Personas Assemble!
by darkoraclegirl
Summary: Sarah Swizav moved to New York to live with her godfather Tony Stark. After being forgotten at the airport on her first day she didn't think anything worst could happen to her. Until she and her new friend Peter Stumble upon a strange door. Now Sarah has to deal with homework, a godfather she's annoyed with, friends, and keeping a huge secert from the Avengers. Oh boy!
1. Welcome to your new home Sarah

Three hours. That's how long Sarah sat waiting outside the airport for her ride. For her godfather. She had text him several times to see how long he was going to be but she never got a reply back. Knowing better then to believe his phone had simply died Sarah let out a low growl of annoyance. "I know he's got better things to do then deal with me but he could at least make sure I get into the city alright." She sighed. "Are you alright child?" Looking up Sarah smiles at the old woman standing next to her. "My ride seems to have forgotten about me." She explained. "Oh you poor thing. My husband could give you a lift if you want." The woman offered. "Are you heading anywhere near Stark tower?" When the woman nodded Sarah smiled and stood. "Thank you ma'am." The woman then waved her husband over and helped Sarah with her bags.

"Are you sure this is where you need to go?" The husband asked as he looked up at the tower from the trunk of his car. "Yes this is the place. Thanks again sir for the help." The man chuckled as he shut the trunk. "Oh if only all kids these days were as polite as you. Take care of yourself, y'hear?" Sarah nodded and waved bye to the couple as they drove away. Turning with her bags in hand Sarah looked up at the tower. "Wonder what he'll say when he sees me." She mumbled before entering the building.

After confirming who she was to her godfather and being looked over a couple of times he finally answered her unspoken question of why he didn't pick her up by asking a question of his own. "Weren't you coming on Friday?" Sarah rolled her eyes at him before someone on the couch called, "Tony it is Friday." Not saying a word Sarah walked right past Tony and found an open chair to sit in. "Oh, well why didn't you tell me you were waiting for me then?" Tony finally got around to asking. "Sir I did telling you about the growing number of text messages from an unknown number." Sarah's eyes flicked about the room in confusion. "Well I don't answer numbers I don't know." He defended. "And he wonders why he didn't know you were waiting?" A guy with short brown hair joked as he smirked over at Sarah. "So how'd you get here then?" Tony asked her. "An elderly couple took pity on me. Please tell me I at least have a room set up." Sarah just wanted to disappear. She didn't like her godfather and she was uncomfortable around the other people in the tower. Add to that the minor jetlag she was feeling and she was miserable. "Here I'll show you." Offered a kind looking red haired woman as she picked up Sarah's bags. Sarah was only happy to follow her. "Sorry about Tony. I reminded him three times that you were coming today but then I got caught up in work and couldn't check on him." Sarah waved off the apology. "It's alright ma'am. I made it in the end at least." The woman gave her a funny smile. "Ma'am? No one but Steve calls me that. Call me Pepper." She then stopped outside a room and opened the door. "Here you go. It's plain right now but since you'll be living here for a while I'm sure we can get some things to make it more you." Looking around the room Sarah took note of the dull tones and shrugged. "I can handle redecorating most of the room. Might need help with the walls." Sarah dismissed. "Alright, well when you know how you want it we can go get whatever you need and I know some great painters. And we can charge it all to Tony." That made Sarah smirk at Pepper. "I'll draw up the plans. But for now I think I'll take a power nap." Pepper quickly pointed out where everything was as well as a run down of who could be found in the tower before leaving. With a tired sigh Sarah dropped onto the bed. "Is there a time you wish to be woke at?" Asked a voice that Sarah now knew as the tower's computer. With a sigh Sarah gave a mumbled reply of wanting up in two hours, noticing the curtains close on their own.

The room around her was dark blue with highlights of purple here and there. To her right was a door but she felt that she shouldn't go through it. Before her was a coffee table and a couch; and sitting on the couch was a strange man in a suit. He had pointed ears and a long nose. His blood shot eyes studied her for a moment before he finally spoke. "Welcome to the Velvet room." He greeted. "Who are you?" Sarah was crept out to say the least and since she couldn't remember how she got to this strange room she was on alert. "My name is Igor. I can see you have a unique destiny about you and I shall be here to help you fulfill that destiny. But first please sign this." A sheet of paper and a pen appeared before Sarah. The single line on the paper was about how the signer agreed to take responsibility for their actions and choices. Raising a brow Sarah glanced at Igor but his expression didn't give anything away. Plucking the pen from the air Sarah signed her name, both the pen and paper disappearing afterwards. "Good. Now that that is taken care of we can speak freely." Sarah placed her hand on her hip, not sure where to start with her questions. "Why am I here?" Igor smiled at her. "A very good question. You have been chosen as a guest of the Velvet room. This means that soon you shall awaken a unique power within yourself and by doing so you shall find yourself faced with a mission only you and those with powers similar to your own can complete." Was the answer she got. "Those with powers similar to my own? So does that mean that others will appear here?" Was her second question. "No. The Velvet room is only open to you. In fact only you will be able to see the doors that will lead you back here." Sarah's eyes flickered to the door on her right before she asked, "Doors?" "Ah yes, I almost forgot. You will need this." A large blue key floated from Igor's hand into Sarah's. "Use that on the doors I mentioned and you will always find your way back here." Gazing over the key Sarah was about to ask more about it but was stopped when Igor spoke. "No need to worry about losing it. That key will always be on you. Even if you do not put it in your pocket in the mornings. Just as the doors to this room will be found in locations that are easy for you to access." Nodding Sarah slipped the key into her pocket. "Ok then. So how can you help me fulfill my destiny?" Igor let out a chuckle before answering. "Another good question. However I fear that answer shall have to wait until your power has been awaken. But before we say our farewells I have a question for you." Crossing her arms Sarah waited. "Normally I have an assistant before the Velvet room has a guest. But since you found your way here earlier then expected I feel it only right to ask you which you would prefer for my assistant, a male or a female?" Tilting her head Sarah thought on the question, figuring she'd have to speak with the assistant Sarah made her choice. "Male." Igor nodded. "Very good. When next we meet I shall introduce you to my assistant as well as explain what it is the Velvet room shall do for you. Until then, good bye." The room around Sarah suddenly began to darken as if something was slowly materializing over her eyes.

"Ms. Swizav are you alright?" The computer, Jarvis asked as Sarah sat up suddenly. Looking around her room Sarah let out a sigh. "Yeah I'm fine. And the name's Sarah. I hate being formalities." She grumbled. "My apologies Sarah." Standing Sarah stretched with a yawn before feeling something stabbing at her. Reaching into her pocket Sarah pulled out the same blue key Igor had given her. "Jarvis do you know how I got this key?" She asked, wondering if some how she had been taken then returned. "What key Sarah?" He asked. "The one in my right hand." Sarah wouldn't have been at all surprised if Jarvis was programmed to be sarcastic. "I'm sorry Sarah but I detect no key in your hand." Raising a brow at that Sarah left her room and found her way to the kitchen. With no one around Sarah set the key on the counter and then fixed herself a sandwich before sitting at the island to see if anyone commented on it.

Picking the key back up Sarah scratched at her head. Not one person noticed the key. Even when they picked up something that was right next to it they said nothing about it. Igor's words about how only she would be able to see the doors to the Velvet room suddenly repeated in her head. "Does that mean only I can see the key to the Velvet room?" She wondered before tucking it back into her pocket "Hey kid. Enjoying your new home?" Tony asked as he walked in. "I don't know I've only been awake in it for three hours." She shrugged. "Understandable. You had to have been jetlagged when you got here. Pepper told me that you two were going redo your room." When Sarah nodded that this was true he continued. "Great. Feel free to do whatever you want with the space. If you need more room we can always knock down a few walls and let you take over a couple more rooms. Need any computers or any tech just give me a shout." Sarah nodded before turning and leaving the room. The guy may be her godfather but that didn't mean she wasn't still sore about being forgotten at the airport. _I've got school in two days. Better make sure I have everything I need._ Heading back to her room Sarah did a basic checklist of all the things she'd need for school. Finding herself short on pens and drawing paper Sarah made a mental note to get some the next day. For now however she took her remaining sheets of drawing paper, as well as her pencils and pencils crayons and set to work designing what she wanted her room to look like. Ignoring the offer of expanding the room Sarah quickly sketched out the room with an anime theme in mind. After redoing four times she finally got the look just right and showed it to Pepper, who agreed to take her shopping in the morning to find the things they'd need for the room as well as to hire the painters for the job.

Standing before the class, being introduced Sarah let her eyes wander each face before stopping on a guy her age with short brown hair. He was lightly picking at a cut on his arm but quickly stopped and looked up at her as if she had yelled out to him. She could tell from a glance he was one of the smarter kids in class as well as that he got beat up a lot. Remembering her public school days she couldn't help but feel for the guy. With a silent vow to help the guy when ever he got beat with in her eye site Sarah made her way over to the offered seat, on the other side of the class from where he sat.

When the bell rang for lunch Sarah found a table outside with no one sitting at it. She however only got ten minutes of alone time before the guy from her class appeared next to her. "Hey, I'm Peter." She shook his hand. "Do you mind?" When he waved to the seat across from her she shook her head. Peter first set down his lunch, which was in a paper bag before taking off and setting down an old looking camera. Sarah eyed it for a moment before turning her attention to him. "So how are you liking the school so far?" He asked her. "It ok. Not really what I was expecting but then again what is as we expect it?" She asked with a shrug. "Good point." The two ate in silence for a few minutes. "So what do you for fun?" Peter asked. "Read, draw, watch anime, and if I'm hungry I cook. How bout you?" Peter nudged his camera before say. "That and I read." Sarah phone went off, playing the victory music from Final Fantasy. Taking it out she found it to be a text from Pepper telling her her room was done. "Something up?" Peter asked. He clearly tried to sound like it was nothing but he couldn't mask the hint of concern from his voice. "No just a notice telling me the painters have finished with my room." Sarah eyes suddenly spotted a guy walking around in a blue shirt with a red spider on it. "What's with the spider shirt?" She asked Peter. He took one look at the shirt and smirked at her. "I'm guessing you haven't heard of Spiderman yet." Upon seeing her shake her head Peter explained to her who Spiderman was and what he had done for the city.

"And now the Avengers seem to be after him. No one really knows why though." Peter finished. "Oh? My godfather's an Avenger." She admitted off handily. "Oh really? Which one?" Asked Peter. "Tony Stark." At that Peter nearly choked on his pop. "You alright?" Sarah wasn't sure if she should helping him or worrying about what she said. "You're the godchild of Tony Stark?" He asked once he wasn't coughing anymore. When Sarah nodded Peter stared at her with wide eyes. "Earth to Peter please return to the planet." She joked, wanting to stop the creepiness. "Sorry. It's just the guy one of my idols. Never thought I would ever be sitting at the same table as his godchild." He explained. "Trust me the guy's not that great. He forgot I was coming and if it wasn't for that elderly couple I'd most likely still be waiting at the airport for a pick up that wasn't coming." Peter made a face that showed he did believe that would have happened. "Hey did ya hear?" Sarah heard someone say behind her. Turning Sarah spotted a couple of girls talking. "Heard about what?" Asked girl A. "You know about that unsolved case right? The one involving that mutant kid?" Girl B asked. "The one where the kid was found dead near the docks with no expiation of how he died?" Girl A asked. "Yeah that one! Well another body was found. This time it was a normal girl and she was floating around in the harbour. And like with the mutant they can't figure out how she died." Girl A's eyes widen as she looked her friend in the eyes search for some sign she was joking. "Two bodies in one week?" Asked Girl A. "And both near the water. Some dock worker that was working late claimed he saw a light over the water and heard an eerie cackle the night before the body was found, but the police think he was drinking on the job." Girl B explained. "Ignore them." Peter told Sarah, making her turn back to him. "Most people at the school love to gossip about anything they can." He dismissed. "Have there been bodies turning up around the docks?" Sarah found herself asking. "Well yeah, but the police are on it so try not to let it worry you." With that said, and the bell sounding both Peter and Sarah left the table and headed for their next class.

Sarah had gone home long enough to check that her room was done how she wanted it as well as to drop off her backpack before yelling a quick, "Heading out, see ya later." And getting herself a cab to the docks. Where she found Peter hanging around near where the police had taped off. "Don't let it worry me huh?" She asked him. Peter turned to her with a guilty smile. "Guess I should take my own advice?" He asked, causing her to chuckle. The two spoke quietly about what might have happened before letting themselves drift away from the area.

"Hey Peter?" Sarah began. "Yeah?" He asked, showing he was listening. "Is it weird for me to feel like I should be doing something about the murders?" She'd had a nagging feeling in the back of her skull that began the moment she was at the taped off area. "No I don't think so. In fact I think feelings like that are why most people join the police force to begin with." He answered. Sarah smiled at him before letting out a sigh as her phone when off. It was a text from Tony telling her that she'd have to get her own dinner since the team was needed out of the city. With a roll of her eyes she tucked the phone back into her pocket before noticing how dark it was getting. "Whoa it's that late already?" Asked Peter as he glanced at his phone. Sarah also took note of the time. "We're better get home." But when she turned Sarah found herself facing a door. "Where did that come from?" Peter asked, also staring at the door. This relieved Sarah since she thought she was seeing things. _Can't be the Velvet room's door then since he can see it._ Sarah approached the door with Peter behind her. "Maybe we shouldn't." He was clearly worried about what was beyond the door but there was also a note that wanted to know. Reaching out Sarah took hold of the knob and turned it, quickly shielding her eyes as the door suddenly began to glow brightly.

"Where are we?" Peter asked as he and Sarah wander around a brightly lit place. They couldn't tell where they were since everything was so bright they couldn't see more then a few feet in front of them. "No idea. I can't even find the door we came in through." Sarah sighed. "We can't see, can't find the door, and our phones aren't working. This clearly wasn't one of our better ideas." Peter sighed. "Hello?" Sarah called. Hoping that someone might hear her and come to their aid. "Hey what's that?" Peter had spotted something up ahead of them. A shadow of something. With a quick glance at each other the two ran over to the shadow. Find it to be a pedestal with sunglasses resting on it. "Who do you think these are for?" Peter asked as he picked up a pair. "No idea." Sarah had also picked up a pair, only she slipped her's on. "Whoa!" Sarah was looking around her like she was seeing something Peter wasn't. "What?" He asked. "Put on a pair and check it out." Was all she said. With a sigh Peter put a pair on and quickly saw what had surprised and amazed Sarah. With the sunglasses on the light around them wasn't as bright. Letting them see farther. "Wow. These could come in handy." Peter commented with a grin. "Who's there!?" Sarah called. Turning to look where she was Peter could make out a figure just out of their clear line of site. The shadow of the person they could see didn't give them much to go on, but they could clearly see the figure raise their hand. "What the?" Peter asked as two strange black puddles appeared a few feet from the two. As they watched the puddles a mask appeared in each puddle before lifting up, pulling the puddles with them. "This can't be good." Peter commented before the masked puddle things transformed into two knights on what looked like ghost horses. "I ugh think we should run?" Sarah suggested. "What are those things?" Peter asked as the two backed away.

The two had been dodging and trying to run from the knights for over an hour; the shadow figure that had clearly summoned them long since gone. "I don't think I can keep this up much longer." Sarah called to Peter. "I'm opened to ideas." He called back. "Ugh!" Sarah was suddenly hit with a painful headache. _I am thou_ A voice spoke. The sound coming from within her head. _Thou art I_ The voice continued. A word suddenly began fluttering around in her head, staying out of reach for a minute or two before she was finally able to grab it. Sadly this also happened to be when one of the two knights closed in on her. "Sarah move!" Peter yelled. However Sarah couldn't move. Her body, even her mind didn't seem to think moving was needed. "Per…sona." She whispered.

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**Ok Everyone ****I have posted a poll on my profile asking you the readers to pick Sarah's persona. Please vote or you will get stuck with my pick and I really want my readers to be happy with the story. Also please tell me what name you think Igor's assisstant should have. I will take the best ones and post a poll so you can pick the one you like best. That you for taking the time to read this and I hope you continue to watch for my next chapter.**

**Oh and for those of you readering this and are waiting for my other stories to be updated I am sorry that you have been stuck waiting for so long. I swear I am trying my hardest to get new chapters out for them. Just please wait and I know I will get something new posted for them. Once again I am sorry for the waiting.**


	2. It's can't be happening again!

Pepper sighed as she turned down the TV, raising a brow at the half naked girl selling some weight lose drink. "Come on it's Risette! You don't get to see her in this part of the world often." Clint complained. "Watch her in another room then. Tony and I are expecting some people over in the hopes of gaining new partners for the company. Tony!" Pepper had turned around and found said man pouring himself a drink. "What'd I do now?" Tony asked. "Ms. Kirijo will be here any minute now and you're drinking?!" She demanded. "It's just one. Come Pepper just relax. Everything will be fine. They'll show up, we'll wow them, they sign the paper saying we're partners, we have a drink, they go home, and we go to our room." Pepper smirked at Tony before taking his glass and uttering one word. "No." And then she dumped it down the sink. "Oh you are evil." Tony moaned. "I'm sorry to interrupt sir but Ms. Kirijo has arrived." Jarvis informed them. Not a second after hearing that were Tony and Pepper greeting a woman with shoulder length wavy red hair. She was dress in a black business suit. Next to her was a man with white hair in a suit; he appeared to be the same age as her. "Ms. Kirijo welcome." Pepper greeted as the two women shook hands. "Please call me Mitsuru. This is Akihiko Sanada" She waved to her friend who gave the two a nod. "Bodyguard?" Tony asked. "Yes Mr. Stark." Akihiko confirmed. "Mr. Stark? Call me Tony." Akihiko cast a slightly uncomfortable look to Mitsuru but when she gave him an encouraging smile he relaxed. Pepper let out a sigh as she glanced at her cell. "Something the matter?" Akihiko asked her. "I was just checking to see if Tony's god daughter texted me back. We had to leave her on her own back in the city." Pepper had wanted to stay in the city with Sarah but she had to leave to attend this meeting. It was shock to her when Tony showed up with the team and she had nearly lost it when Tony tried to get her to ditch the meeting in favour of running off with him. "Oh? How old is she?" Mitsuru asked. "16." Tony answered; shocking Pepper cause he normally didn't pay attention to such details. "Remember the things we use to get up to around that age?" Akihiko asked Mitsuru with a smirk. Mitsuru chuckled before a sad sigh left her lips. "I just wish those two memories never happened." Akihiko's smile dropped into a heart broke look. "Yeah." He sighed. "Uh why don't we go to another room?" Pepper suggested.

Down at the docks a small group of cops had been gathered to meet with a detective to search the area for anything that was missed. "So who is this chick we're meetin?" One of the younger officers asked as he leaned against the one of the cars. "Don't know much about her. Just that she's young and comes from Japan." One of the older officers answered while lighting up a smoke. "Does this chick even speak English?" Another of the older officers asked. "Yes I do." The cops jumped to their feet and turned, hands on their guns. "So you're the girl we've been waiting for?" Asked the one smoking. "That's right. I'm Naoto Shirogane." The girl had short blue hair and was dressed in a simple pair of black dress pants, a white button up, and a blue jacket. "This is where the first victim was found?" Naoto asked as she glanced around the open space, taking in the area and how many cameras could be seen from where she stood. "Yeah. The second vic was found about seven feet that way in the water." The smoking cop answered as he waved towards the water. "I see." Naoto turned her eyes to an ally off to her left. For some reason she couldn't explain she was getting a familiar feeling from down that way. Something she hadn't felt in years. And that worried her. For the last time she had that feeling her friends and herself had been dragged into a mystery so great and dangerous that more often then not she had been left fearing that one or all of them wouldn't be making it home that night. "I've read the files on the two victims. Nothing links the two together. One was a male mutant of 12 years old. The second a human female of 27. One lived in the city the other was visiting a friend. There isn't a single thing connecting the two other then the fact that both they bodies were found within a few feet of each other. Also the fact that no cause of death has been found is odd." The officers had been standing listening to her as she went over facts from the files, waiting to see what she'd need from them. After a few minutes in silent thought Naoto looked towards the men. "Alright everyone fan out. Even the most impossible of things could be key in figuring out what happened."

Pepper was taking the time it was taking Mitsuru to read over the papers she had given her to check for a text from Sarah. "Tony I'm getting worried. It's been hours since we left the city and she still isn't answering me." Tony shrugged. "Maybe she's mad at you." He suggested. Pepper gave him an unimpressed look. "No Tony, she's mad at you. I'm the one's been helping her get settled in and making sure she has everything she needs." Setting her cell away she sighed. "I'm heading back to the city the moment we're done. And you better hope that she's at the tower or you will regret it." She warned before turning her eyes back to Mitsuru. "Hmm?" Both Mitsuru and Akihiko seemed to have tensed up. "Is something wrong?" Tony asked. "Akihiko do you feel that?" Mitsuru appeared to shaking lightly. "No, it can't be. We put a stop to it years ago." Was the reply he gave her.

Naoto had followed her gut and gone down the ally looking for clues but found a strange door. "What's this?" She had just placed her hand on the doorknob when a new feeling washed over her. "That can't be! There's no way it could be happening again." Turning the knob Naoto didn't even blink against the bright lights.

Naoto was glad to find the sunglasses, flashing back to her time in Inaba as she slid them on. "Now then. Why did I feel the power of a persona? It doesn't look like anyone else has been here." She noted while wandering. "Sarah!" Suddenly hearing a male voice yelling through the strange world around them. Running towards the voice Naoto feared what she might find. Checking her gun she tried to prepare herself for the worst while at the same time praying that the guy and girl she was clearly running to would be safe. "Please be alright." She pleaded as she began to make out four shapes. Two appeared to be on horses. _Shadows! No!_ The other two were clearly teenagers. One was hunched over and clearly male. The other, the female of the two was standing tall as if she wasn't hurt. This surprised her until she realized the feeling she had been feeling was coming from her.

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**Ok everyone the next chapter will revile which persona Sarah will be using as a starting persona. I know some of you are confused as to what a persona is which is why I ask that you either enter Persona into a search bar or to check out the vids on youtube.**

**So far only two people have voted and this has lead to a tie between Black Frost and Loki. So please vote or I shall be the one to pick for you. Thank you again for reading.**


	3. Time for this adventure to begin

**Alright everyone, before we being I shall start off by saying sorry to everyone who voted for Loki. (that is the 2 people who did.) By the time I learned of the second vote for the Loki persona I had already typed up this chapter and it was too late to change it. However do note that I have every intention of giving Sarah Loki for her persona in the future.**

**To those of you who know what Persona is (or did as I suggested and looked it up) I want to hear you thoughts on who in the Marvel world would have which Arcana. This is important to the story since those with Arcanas are connected to the MC, in this case that is Sarah. She will be spending a great deal of time with these people so I really need you thoughts on this. If you still don't understand what I mean here's the best example I can come up with. Loki (in my mind)(the guy not the persona) would be either the Devil Arcana or the Death Arcana.**

**I know you guys are reading this story and I'm not asking a lot here. You don't have to list all the Arcana and all the characters you think should be linked with it. One or two would be fine since for some of the other Arcana I can use the characters from Persona 3 and Persona 4. So please, just give me a couple.**

**Also thank you compplyffy for naming the assistant. You were the only one to help me with that and I am very thankful to you.**

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Peter's eyes couldn't have gotten any wider at what he was seeing. He had barely heard the word Sarah had spoken before glowing blue aura appeared around her and what appeared to be snowflakes floated out from the glow. Then a figure began to materialize before her. It appeared humanoid but with a round body and head that was all black. On it's head was a purple hat with a matching collar around the neck. Pointed shoes with what looked to be gold band were around the figure's feet and it's hands, or rather fingers appeared to be pointed like claws. It opened its mouth and let out a strange laugh, drawing Peter's eyes to it's face where he notice two small fangs peeking out from the mouth and burning red eyes. The figure then disappeared as if it hadn't been there. "Hey!" Both Peter and Sarah turned to the new voice, surprised to find anyone else here. The new woman tossed a police club to Sarah before standing beside her. "I have no idea who you two are but since you have a Persona you better be ready to defend yourself." She was speaking more to Sarah then to the both of them. "Talk later, cause these guys aren't going to wait!" Peter wanted to help the two girls but had discovered earlier that although he was stronger then most people his attacks didn't even dent the knights' armour. _So much for being the hero. Who ever that woman is I hope she's good for all our sakes._ A flashback to earlier that year nearly made Peter miss the whole battle between the two girls and the strange knights. From his place outside of the battle Peter could hear the new woman yelling out things like, "Summon your persona!" and "Dodge!" at one point Peter swore he heard Sarah shout "Black Frost!" Using this strange figure Sarah seemed able to create ice and fire out of thin air. For a moment Peter thought that maybe Sarah was a mutant and this was how her powers manifested. But that thought got shot down when Peter realized how stupid that sounded. "Whatever this is, it sure showed up just in time." For that, he could be grateful.

Naoto ran a hand through her hair as she sighed. "I've gotten soft. Fighting Shadows use to be easy." She mused. "Sarah!" Whipping around Naoto let out a sigh of relief when she noticed the girl, Sarah was simply kneeling and panting. "I'm fine Peter. Just tired." Sarah assured him. "This place takes a lot out of you the first time. Not to mention the first time you use a persona." Naoto explained. "Persona? Just who are you?" Sarah asked as the guy helped her to stand. "I'm Naoto Shirogane. I'm working with the police to figure out the mystery behind the two murders around the docks. Who are you two?" "Peter Parker. This is Sarah Swizav." The guy answered. Naoto nodded, taking note that though the two clearly must've arrived together Peter didn't seem half as tired as Sarah. "Come on, we need to get you two out of here." Turning Naoto had hoped to find a way out but nothing seemed to stand out. "We would leave if we could. But the door we came in through vanished right after we entered." Peter sighed. "Wait what about that other person we saw?" This got Naoto's attention. "You saw someone else here Sarah?" Sarah nodded. "Yeah but we couldn't make out any details." Peter shook his head. "Sarah are you forgetting that that person made those things appear? They tired to kill us." Peter pointed out. "Interesting." _Could this person be behind the murders? And to make Shadows appear. Where could a person obtain such power?_ Naoto was so lost in thought that she jumped when Peter shouted, "Who's there?!" From the edge of the light, just past where the three could see clearly something came flying towards them; stopping only when it reached Sarah. "Wow! You are the most amazing fantastic thing I have ever seen! Those Shadows were all slash, cut, bash! And you were ice, smack, fire!" The thing cheered excitedly. The thing appeared to be a small teenage girl with hot pink hair and sky blue eyes. She appeared to be dressed like a punk with black fairy wings. "Oooo, you are my idol." Sarah could only blink in shock and amazement at the girl floating before her. "Star you moron!" Another small person appeared, this one an adult man with blond hair and black eyes that were glaring at the girl, Star. He was dressed in some kind of dark blue driving suit with a grey scarf covering most of his face. His wings were made of metal. "Oh hi Zaci. Isn't she the coolest thing you've ever seen?" Star asked as though he wasn't giving her the evil eye. A third little person appeared, this one seemed to be older then the two but not yet old enough to be called a senior. She had long green hair and light purple eyes. She was dressed in a long flowing dress of earthy browns and greens, and her wings looked like petals taken from a flower. "That's enough you two. You're confusing them." The two looked down like children caught by a parent. "You'll have to forgive them, it's not often we can to speak with those that come here. I am Jade. Now please, explain yourselves." And so Sarah, Peter, and Naoto told the three fairies everything that lead them to the world they were now in.

"Whoa. You are so epic!" Star was sitting on Sarah shoulder, staring up at her like she was the most amazing person in the world. "That maybe but this world is slowly draining the two of them. I'm not effect too much since I have been to another world much like this one. Do any of you three know how to leave this world?" Naoto asked. Jade nodded. "Yes we do. Together we can make a door for you three to leave through. Though I wonder." Jade then flew up to Sarah. "You were able to unlock this "power of persona". Could this mean that you might be able to help us?" Though all Sarah wanted to do was go to sleep that did catch her attention. "Help you? Why, what's wrong?" Star nearly ran into Jade as she shot off Sarah's shoulder. "Ok check this out. Several days ago everything fine here. The three of us are just hanging around doing our things when suddenly the Shadows start acting up. That was when the light you see all around us first started gathering together in a circle high in the sky." Star explained. "At the same time we suddenly felt something else was in here with us. But before we could even think to go see what it was it was gone. But that wasn't the last time it happened." Zaci explained. "Every time the light gathers in a circle the Shadows act up. And not too long ago another thing appeared in our world. But once again we couldn't reach it in time to see what it was. Whatever it was the Shadows seemed to be heading for it when the light gathered." Jade explained. "Sounds almost like what happened in Inaba." Naoto mumbled. "Hey if you know something you better tell us right now!" Zaci yelled. "Clam yourself. What you three just told us sounds eerily similar to what took place in the town of Inaba several years ago. I was part of a group that discovered someone was throwing people into a world inside the TV and leaving them there to die at the hands of Shadows." She explained. "Could this be that same person?" Peter asked. Naoto shook her head. "Not possible. I make sure every month that he is still behind bars. And if he were to escape I would be notified right away." "So then, this is a different person but they seem to be copying what happened in Inaba. Sounds like we got our work cut out for us." Sarah smiled. "We?" Naoto was sure she had missed heard her. "Well I can't stand by knowing what I know now. Besides if you are going to be fighting these Shadows to figure out what's going on and who's behind it you'll need someone to back you up. I have a persona. I'm sure I can help you." Naoto thought on this. _She is right. It's not safe to fight Shadows alone and she did show skill in fighting them. But I don't know. She's just a teenager._ A small smile appeared on Naoto's lips as she bit back a chuckle. _Then again so were we when we fought against them. What would Yu do if he were here?_ This time she shook her head. _He'd most likely welcome her. She's willing to help, has skill in fighting Shadows, and more importantly a persona. Everything one needs to be welcomed in our little group. I guess it would be best to work with her._ "Alright Sarah. Let's get you two out of here first. Then after you've recovered we'll talk about teaming up." Sarah nodded in agreement to that. "Alright then. We'll let you out. Just be sure to come back." Jade informed them. "Oh and keep the shades. They look totally rad on you guys." Star added. The three fairies gathered together a few feet away from them before spinning around in a tight circle. With a flash of light a door appeared before them. "Ta-da!" Star cheered. "Here is you way out. Now we don't know anything about the world you three come from but I'm guessing that you can return here using the same door you used to get here today. There might be other ways to enter this world but I don't know any." Jade seemed to be racking her brain for anything that might help. "More or less you need to be careful. Though we can sense where you are we might not always be able to reach you if you come in through another door. If we can't reach you, you're trapped. Keep that in mind every time you think about coming in." Zaci added. "Thank you. We'll be sure to be careful. Come on you two." Naoto took hold of Sarah's free arm and the three of them left through the door.

When they arrived at the tower they were met with Pepper shouting at Tony. "I'll go fine her right now." Tony offered, but she wasn't letting him go that easily. "Someone should've been left with her, she's still getting use to life here. I swear if one hair on her is hurt." Sarah chose to cut in before Pepper started throwing things. "Sorry I'm late getting home." Sarah was thankful, when all eyes turned to her that she had regained enough strength to stand and walk on her own. Even though she would've loved to have seen Pepper pound Tony once she saw Sarah being supported by two people. "Sarah! Where have you been?" Pepper demanded, though it was clear she was reviled to see her. "Peter was letting me copy his notes and we lost track of time. I didn't even realize I had my cell on vibrate." Pepper seemed willing to accept this. "Who's she?" Tony asked, waving to Naoto. "Naoto Shirogane, I'm a detective that's been called in by the police to help solve the mystery murders that have taken place only the last few days. I ran into these two a few blocks from here and upon learning that Sarah is you god daughter Mr. Stark I thought I'd tag along and see what thoughts the Avengers have regarding these killings." Both Peter and Sarah were thankful for Naoto's quick thinking.

Sarah sighed as she shut her book. Well, it was more of a log really. She had just finished putting down what had happened that day and was now thinking over the events. _I wouldn't have believed it if it hadn't happened to me. And that woman, Naoto. Seems she's a seasoned pro at this kind of thing. Maybe I should get her to tell me what happened to her in Inaba. Peter. Wonder how he's doing after all of this? Getting dragged into another world is one thing. But facing those Shadows and learning of personas. I should speak to him in the morning. Make sure we're still cool._ Sarah carefully tucked her logbook out of site, shut off her light, and pulled the covers up around her. "What a day. Oh well, time to rest up and be ready to face tomorrow." Rolling over with her eyes closed Sarah settled down for a peaceful night sleep.

Opening her eyes Sarah found herself once again in the Velvet room with Igor. Only this time there was someone else with them. They appeared to be a young man, possibly two years older then Sarah with platinum blond hair and gold eyes. His clothes reminded her of a bellboy, and like the Velvet room they were a shade of dark blue and he was holding a rather large book in his left hand. "Be calm. You are fast asleep in the real world." Igor assured her. "So I'm only here in my mind?" She asked, wondering how this worked. "In a way, yes." Nodding in understanding Sarah's eyes flicked to the young man. "Ah, you have noticed the Velvet room's newest assistant." This seemed to be amusing to Igor. The young man stepped forward and bowed politely. "My name is James. I look forward to aiding you in the near future." He greeted with a soft smile. Sarah had to admit to herself that he was very attractive. "Ah yes. That is why you are here now my dear. To learn how we will be assisting you." Igor seemed to lean forward a little, his smile growing. "Before we being perhaps you would be kind as to tell us of you adventure in the other world first?" Seeing no harm in it Sarah told the two of what happened to her that day. "Splendid. The power you hold is different from those you will come to fight along side with. Yours is that of the Wild card. As the holder of the Wild card your choices hold more weight then those of others, for your choice will be what shapes the future; not just for yourself, but the world." Sarah was unsure what to make of that but figured the future would revile what he was babbling about. "Now then, my role in this journey is to give birth to new personas." Sarah blinked in surprised before looking the guy over. _What the hell is he smoking? Give birth to new personas? Not sure I want any of those. Hey wait!_ "I heard from Naoto that most people are only able to use one persona." Hearing Igor talk about new personas made her wonder if Igor could truly be trusted. "Yes most do only use one persona, but you are not like them. See this mask?" Igor waved his hand over the coffee table and a plain white mask appeared on it. "Right now it has no colour, no design. But with a simple stroke of a brush it can take on the appearance of any face the wearer want. You are like this mask. Unbound by brands and able to play any role set before you. There for, you are not bound to only one persona. This will also help you when forming bonds with others; but we'll speak of that another time. Now in order to create new personas I shall require the use of personas you have already in you possession. Most of the time I shall require two personas for fusing, but three can also be used. But bewared, any personas you use for fusion will be lost. If you will now listen to my assistant." Sarah turned to James. "The tome in my hand is the Persona Compendium. With it I can record any and all personas you bring to me and summon them again when you ever you wish me to, for a small fee of course. This however will aid you when you wish to use my master's fusion abilities." He explained. "There are a few finer details we should go over but I fear we lack the time." Sarah sighed; Igor clearly had important things to tell her but this unknown time limit they seem to have was a problem. "I can see this annoys you. Which is why the next time we speak you shall come here of your own will." It took Sarah a moment to realize what he was referring to. "The key!" At Igor's nod Sarah relaxed, glad to know that the next time she might not have to deal with a time limit. "Until then farewell." Like the first time she was there the Velvet room began to go dark like something was appearing over her eyes.

With a yawn Sarah sat down at the kitchen island, Igor and James words echoing in her head as she watched Steve cooking at the stove. "Are you sure you should be up? You look about ready to go back to bed." Steve asked as he glanced at her over his shoulder. "It's only the second day. I don't want to miss school and risk ending up more behind then I already am for coming in this late into the year." Steve gave Sarah a smile at that; glad to hear she was taking her schooling seriously. After dishing up a plate for her he set it before her and turned back to the stove. "Hey kid. That guy that was in here yesterday called. Talked about meeting you outside of your school to talk." Tony greeted as he entered the kitchen to grab a fresh cup of coffee. "Peter called? I see, thanks." Sarah knew she should get over what happened between her and Tony, but that didn't mean she was just gonna let it go right away.

As Tony had said Peter was waiting at the front doors of the school. "Hey. How are you feeling?" He asked once she was close enough to talk to with out other people listening in. "I'm still a little worn out but I'm good enough to be here. What about you? Naoto said that place drains first timers." Sarah had wanted to check on Peter when she woke that morning. "I think I'm more shaken up then worn out. Everything that happened yesterday seems impossible but there's no denying that it happened. After all, how else would I have these?" Peter held out his sunglasses. Sarah did the same. "I got a text from Naoto this morning. She wants to meet up and talk about that world." Peter raised a brow at that, wondering what it had to do with him. "I want you there. Please tell me you'll come with me." Peter bit his lower lip in thought. _What do I do? I want to be there for her but at the same time I need to patrol the streets as Spiderman. I'm not good to her in that world. Nothing I did helped. If anything I'd be a risk for her. And that woman, Naoto. Just who is she and how does she fit into all of this?_ He glanced at Sarah before letting his eyes wander the streets, stopping only for a moment on the Stark tower. _Hmm… The Avengers are looking for Spiderman. If I were to help Sarah that would keep me from getting tracked down by them and at the same time I could try to keep her safe. Those fairies did say some strange things. What's going on in that world and why has someone like Sarah seemed to be dragged into this? Is that world really connected to those two deaths? If it is then maybe I should stick around. Someone has to be there that Sarah can trust._ "Alright Sarah. I'll go with you to meet Naoto." He finally agreed. "Thanks Peter. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't for the fact that I trust you. I know nothing about Naoto so I'm scared about what might happen." The bell then rang signalling the end of their conversation and the start of their schooling.


	4. A little chaos

**I was hoping to start on the social link part with this chapter but since no one is helping I am beginning to think that there's no point in continuing this story. But I am going to try one more time.**

**I need your picks for the Arcana. If you still don't know what they are then here is the list of the Arcana:**

**Fool = Sarah**

**Magician**

**Priestess**

**Empress**

**Emperor**

**Justice**

**Lovers**

**Chariot**

**Hierophant**

**Hermit**

**Fortune**

**Strength**

**Hangman**

**Death**

**Temperance **

**Devil**

**Tower**

**Star**

**Moon**

**Sun**

**Judgement**

**That is the list. As you noticed the Fool Arcana already has a name on it. Well that's because in Persona the main character is always of the Fool Arcana. I would very much like to have a list of marvel/Avengers character to work with. I know I said I could fill the list with Persona 3 and 4 characters but it would be better if I could have marvel/Avengers in it too. So please. PLEASE! I don't care if you give me only one suggestion. But don't just sit there, read this chapter, and then take off. And I know you do this because how else could I get nearly 200 views/visitors in one month yet when I post a poll and ask for votes I get 4? I don't mean to sound mean or to make you guys and girls sound lazy. Yes I understand that many of you have no idea what Persona is. You clicked this crossover because it's the only one of its kind and that caught your attention. Maybe now that you know just what the Arcana are you will take the time to post/or pm who you think should be which Arcana. Yes I know I'm bitching. But I just want to do this story right so you aren't wasting your time with this story. After all if this story isn't worth commenting on then clearly I should just get rid of it and focus my time on the stories that people do care about.**

* * *

Peter and Sarah after Sarah confirmed with Pepper that she was with Peter working on school stuff the two sat with Naoto and listened as she told them of her time in Inaba. The two found a fair amount of her story hard to believe, even after what happened to them the day before. "So then, now that you know the story behind me we should speak about how to go about this investigation." Naoto began, speaking mainly to Sarah. "Alright. Since you've got experience you should lead and Peter can gather information." Peter nodded in agreement. "I can also act as an excuse for you when everyone someone asks where you are." He added. "Not sure about my leading this. Yu Narukami was the leader for our group. Mostly because of his unique power." Naoto though smiling was slightly worried and was wondering if she should call up her old team leader/boyfriend. "Power?" Peter asked. "Yu could use multiple personas. I have no idea where they all came from but it seemed almost like everyday he had new ones to call upon." Naoto thought back to the first time she witnessed Yu calling upon more then one persona. "So there are others?" Naoto almost missed Sarah whispering that. "What?! Are you saying you have that ability too?" _Impossible. Even if she does have that same gift as Yu how could she know so soon after awaking her persona? Then again no one could explain where Yu got all his personas or how he always seemed to know what he was doing with them. Is there something connecting Yu and Sarah?_ "Sarah, how do you know that?" Sarah shrugged like she didn't know but Naoto could see in her eyes that Sarah did know but didn't want to say anything for some reason. "Are you two going to go back to that world today?" Peter asked. "No. Sarah, though strong enough to come out and go to school still needs time to recover. It would be better for us to wait a few days before going back in. In the mean time I shall call my old teammates and see if they have any ideas. Perhaps they might be willing to join us if they can make it into the city." Both teens nodded at that. "Oh and Sarah, if you do posses that power then you should be the one leading the investigation." Sarah eyes were wide that. "What? But you're a detective. Why had a civilian lead this?" She asked. "Yu was the leader of our group and with his power we were able to survive each battle. He also had a strong will to do the right thing as well the ability to give us all that little push we sometimes need to keep going. In truth you remind me of him." Sarah wasn't sure what to make of that. "I'll give it some thought." She promised. After getting each others numbers Sarah went back to the tower.

Flipping the key to the Velvet room in her hand before tossing it in the air and catching it Sarah thought over what Naoto had said that day. _I can't lead the investigation. What do I know about investigating? Nothing! That's what. So I have the same power as this Yu guy. Big deal! Naoto knows what she's doing so she should lead. But if she knows what she's doing then does that mean she's right to have me take the lead? Ugh! This isn't helping!_ A knock at her door ripped her from her thoughts. After placing the key on her nightstand she told whoever was there to come in. "Hey, I noticed you didn't eat much at dinner so I thought you'd like a snack." Steve greeted her as he handed her a plate of grilled cheese and a cup of tea. "Bruce told me you're a tea drinker. Hope I made it right." Sara placed the plate next to the key and took a sip of the tea, smiling up at Steve. "It's great thanks." He seemed relieved to hear that. "Is everything alright though? You've been trapped in your thoughts since you got home." Sarah wanted to tell him that it was nothing, but then she realized he might be the best person to talk to about this. "I know we haven't known each other long but you're the best person I can think of to ask about this." Taking a breath as she set the cup down Sarah went for it. "Do think I could be a good leader?" Steve stood there in confusion for a couple minutes so Sarah rephrased it. "I met this girl the other day and we're teaming up for something important. I can't tell you what it is but it could be slightly dangerous. She wants me to lead because I show some of the same skills as her last partner. Do you think I could?" For a moment Sarah was sure he was going to demand to know what they were planning on doing. But he sighed and took a seat on her bed. "You are right, I haven't known you long. But even if I did it wouldn't mean I would be able to tell you if you would or wouldn't be a good leader. I never pictured myself as the leader type back when I was trying to enlist. In fact leading was the last thing on my mind. Back then I was the guy no one really wanted on their team, much less leading it. But look at me now. No one knows what they truly can do until they try. So the only thing I can say on the subject Sarah, is that you should try being a leader. If you can't do it then tell your friend and step down. Also try to remember to be careful. There are a lot of us that would be upset if anything happened to you." Sarah chuckled at the last bit. "Thanks Steve. You've been a big help." With a nod Steve got up and left the room. Pulling out her cell Sarah brought up text messaging and sent to Naoto "_Alright. I'll lead._" After confirming it went through Sarah picked up her grilled cheese and took a large bite. _Well I'm team leader now. I hope Naoto's friends; if they join us don't mind taking orders from a kid like me._

Waking up that morning Sarah figured it'd be a normalish day with her going to school, spending sometime with Peter, maybe talking to Naoto, and then spending the rest of the night in the tower. However the moment she was in the kitchen the tower suddenly went on lockdown and no one could find out why. Worst yet with the lockdown came a cellphone-blocking signal. Leaving everyone (or rather Sarah) no way to tell anyone what was happening. Sarah spent a better part of the day sitting in the living room watching videos on her laptop while everyone else struggled to get the security system under control.

"Sarah where were you? I texted you several times but heard nothing from you." Peter asked her as she stepped out of the tower. "I'm sorry. The tower locked its self down and only just unlocked its self." It was odd to Sarah that Peter seemed a little on edge but she figured he was about to tell her what was wrong. "Have you heard from Naoto?" _Not what I was expecting._ "No, but since she's working with the cops so it's not a surprise that she would be unreachable from time to time." Peter didn't look convinced. "Hey!" Turning the two found a young man with red hair running up to them. The most notable thing about him was the headphone around his neck. "Can we help you?" Sarah asked. "Are you Sarah Swizav?" He asked. "Yeah? Um who are you?" She knew she hadn't met him before yet he knew her name. "Oh good. I'm Yosuke Hanamura. Naoto called me and said the two of you were working on something." He answered, a grin on his face. "And that matters to you how?" Peter asked. "Are you Peter Park?" Peter nodded. "I was on the team with Naoto on Inaba." _So this guy's one of her friends. But why come to me?_ "Say are you on your way to meet Naoto?" Sarah blinked and shared a look with Peter. "No. We haven't heard from her all day." Sarah was beginning to share in Peter's worry. "What? But she said she was going to meet up with you and Peter today so I thought I'd join up with you three." Yosuke appeared confuse, which only severed to increase Sarah and Peter's worry. "When did she tell you that?" Peter asked. "This morning. At around 9:23. Why?" Sarah let out a sigh. "Last time we saw Naoto was yesterday. I spent until just now trapped in the tower due to a lock down." She explained. "I tried getting a hold of her at lunch but she never replied back." Peter added. "Oh man! Back in Inaba that usually meant someone had grabbed ya." Yosuke was clearly panicking. "Alright let's clam down. First thing we need to do is check with the police in case she got side tracked with them."

Arriving at the station Sarah quickly asked the woman at the desk if Naoto was there. And after the woman made a call Naoto was standing outside with them. "You had us worried." Yosuke greeted her. "Worried? You were nearly freaking out. Saying things like in Inaba if no one could reach you and hadn't seen ya it meant you were grabbed." Peter teased. "This coming from the one who was waiting outside Stark tower to see if I had spoken to her." Sarah pointed out. Naoto laughed at the blush of embarrassment on Yosuke and Peter. "Sorry for worrying you. I had planned to meet with Peter and Sarah but some things here needed my attention." She explained. "Well at least we know nothing happened to you. By the way, I understand now what you meant on the phone. Sarah was clam and reasonable when we didn't know where you were. She really is like Yu." Yosuke threw Sarah a wink. "Ok now I really wanna meet this Yu guy." It was driving her mad to keep being compared to this guy yet she knew next to nothing about him. "You'll get your chance Sarah. After all he said he wanted to meet you as well when I told him about you last night." Naoto assured her. "You two still together? Man, I don't know how you guy do it. Dating long distances." Yosuke was giving Naoto a look of respect and amazement. "Normally relationships like that couldn't last. Somehow however he makes it work for us." Naoto had a light blush on her face and a far away look in her eyes. "Man, is there anything he can't do?" The grin on Yosuke's face told Sarah and Peter that he clearly held Yu in high regard. "Well now that that is out of the way, do you have time to visit that world?" Sarah asked Naoto. "Fraid not. After my disappearance the day we met it seems I'm stuck with a tail if I leave the station. However I'm close to talking the chief out of it. I'll text you tonight and we can see if I'll be able to join you tomorrow." Sarah nodded before sighing. "Unless the blasted tower locks down again."


	5. Meeting the Empress

**This is an update on the Arcana status. Thank you Lola Kennedy for your picks. As you can see there are a few spaces that could use filling but can to a point use P3 and P4 Social links to fill them. Those however marked maybe are ones that are still in the air but have two possible choices. They are Peter and Loki (yes I shall be bring in the character to the story). If you wish to comment on these then feel free to do so, I am also still looking for suggestions for the Arcana so you can still offer your picks (please note that this story can include character from other marvel comics/movies such as X-men, Fantastic Four, etc. This list is not yet fully set (well Empress is since I've already used it in this story) the only one not up for changing (other then Empress) is Fool since it is the main character's, Sarah's Arcana. All others are up for debate should you wish to do so.**

**Fool = Sarah**

**Magician**

**Priestess**

**Empress = Pepper**

**Emperor = Tony**

**Justice = Steve**

**Lovers = Peter (maybe)**

**Chariot = **

**Hierophant**

**Hermit = Clint**

**Fortune**

**Strength = Thor**

**Hangman = Bruce**

**Death = Loki (maybe)**

**Temperance = Natasha**

**Devil = Loki (maybe)**

**Tower**

**Star = Peter (maybe)**

**Moon**

**Sun**

**Judgement**

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Sarah had received a text from Naoto the night before informing her that Naoto wasn't going to be able to go to the other world but Sarah should go with Yosuke and introduce him to the three fairies they had met there. So after school she met with Yosuke, and to her surprise Peter at the same ally the door to the other world had appeared in.

Flipping open her cell Sarah let out a sigh. "5:48. It's almost the same time as well the door appeared." She pointed out. "Think it'll appear at the same time?" Peter asked. "Your guess is as good as mine right now." She shrugged. "Whoa!" Yosuke jumped as the door appeared on the wall next to where he was leaning. "Guess it's on a timer." Peter joked. "Brought your shades?" Sarah asked. Peter held his up. "Shades?" Yosuke asked. "There should be a stand inside with some on it. Just grabbed a pair and put them on." She explained. "Oh so it's like the TV world. We had to wear glasses to see through the fog." Yosuke explained. "Alright guys. Let's go in." Slipping on her shades Sarah opened the door and stepped through.

"Well, this is really different from what we went through in Inaba." Yosuke commented after putting on a pair of shades. "Hard to believe this kind of thing has happened before. Why do you think that is?" Peter asked. "Well when we found the one at fault for everything they told us that humanity wished for it's death and they were there to grant that wish." Yosuke offered. "Man kind always seeks it's death. But they believe their wish is only for those that are against them not realizing that somewhere in the world someone else wishes the same of them." Sarah voiced. "That's pretty scary when you think about it." Yosuke shuttered a little. "YOU'RE BACK!" Sarah had to duck as Star flew at her. "Hello Star." She greeted. Star's eyes turned to hearts. "You remembered my name!" Zaci flew up to Star and smacked her up side the head. "Ow!" Star moaned. "How could she forget an idiot like you?" He grumbled. "Oh you brought someone with you." Jade was floating next to Yosuke. "I can fell the same power with in. Are you here to help?" She asked him. "Yeah that's right. Name's Yosuke." "Yosuke that's Jade. The two over here are Star and Zaci. They live in this world and have the power to let us out." Sarah explained. "Yes but only so long as we are together. Should one of us not be there we can't not create the door to let you back into your world." Jade warned. "Well then let's avoid that then." Peter suggested. "Has anyone entered this world since we were last here?" Sarah asked the three. "Not that we know of." Jade answered. "What about the shadow figure you saw the first time we were here Sarah? Any idea who or what that was?" Peter asked. "We've searched as far as we could but didn't find any trace of them. And since we're the only way out of this world you must have been imagining them." Zaci snapped. "Well I don't know about this figure you're talking about so how bout we go do battle against some Shadows?" Yosuke asked. "No can do. Naoto asked me not to get into any more fights with Shadows till she finds a place for me to get my hands on a good weapon." Sarah sighed. Like Yosuke she really wanted to fight some more Shadows but she understood why Naoto didn't want her fighting. With out weapons and armour to protect her she was in danger. Yosuke was all right since he had gear to keep him safe. "Ugh right. Have to make sure everyone's safe before we can do anything in this world." It was clear Yosuke was disappointed. "Best we not stay too long. I promised my aunt that I would pick up some things from the store on my way home." Peter suggested. "Right. Let's head back now. I don't want to worry Pepper or Steve." Sarah agreed.

Peter was glad he had been able to talk Sarah and Yosuke into returning home. He hadn't really wanted to go to that world but he was worried about leaving Sarah alone with Yosuke. He may be a friend of Naoto but that didn't mean he could be trusted. So he swore to make it a quick trip to ensure that he'd be able to go out on patrol for a few hours before returning home. Though it was starting to look like there was no point in patrolling that night. The streets were quite. Not even a mugger lurking in the corner of ally. "Well this was a wasted night." Peter sighed as he hung upside down from the edge of a building. "No it's fine Akihiko I can hear you now." Looking down Peter caught site of a red hair woman in a suit. "Have you had any luck on your end?" She asked the person on her cell. "Same here I'm afraid. I'm getting worried. We clearly sensed the Shadows but at the same time I sensed a Persona user. We have to track down the Persona user before they get themselves into trouble." This caught Peter's attention. This woman didn't match the description of Naoto's friends but she knew about Shadows and Persona. "What? Find where the Shadows are coming from? Yes I see what you mean. Shadows are drawn to Persona users so by finding Shadows we should be able to follow it to the Persona user." She then sighed. "But we haven't seen any Shadows yet." She ran a hand through her hair and leaned against a wall. Peter took his cell and snapped a picture of her. "Let's meet up at the hotel and rethink this. Alright, see you there." She then hung up and rubbed at her eyes. "Why would it be happening again? Nyx was defeated years ago and yet it's happening again. Why?" Pushing herself off the wall she made her way out of the ally. "What? Nyx? Who's Nyx? And how does she know about Shadows and Personas? Better talk to Sarah in the morning."

On her way back to the tower Sarah spotted something glowing down an ally she was passing. Looking more carefully from where she stood Sarah realized it was a door. "What an odd place to put a door. And why is it glowing?" Tilting her head in thought she ran through a short list of who would want something like that. "Wait a second!" Fishing out the Velvet room key from her pocket Sarah ran to the door. The key fit the keyhole perfectly. Turning the knob Sarah blinked against the light.

When her eyes adjusted Sarah found herself seated in the Velvet room with Igor and James. "Welcome back my dear. I am please to see you had no trouble in finding us." Igor greeted. "How could I miss a glow door down an ally?" Sarah asked with a roll of her eyes. "When we last saw each other you mentioned some finer detail you wanted to go over with me?" At that Igor's creepy grin grow. "Ah yes. I'm glad you paid such attention." Sarah rolled her eyes at him. "As you know your power is different from other Persona users. That is because yours is the power of the heart. And the heart is strengthen through bonds." Sarah nodded, having heard something like that in a movie some time ago. "The stronger these bonds, or social links are the stronger your fused personas will be." Igor explained. "These links are important so it is wise to invest time in strengthening them as well as yourself and your team." James added. "Social links huh? How will I know when I've made these links?" Sarah asked. "Oh you will know when it happens my dear." Igor chuckled. "Now then each Social link you make will be connected to an Arcana." Here Igor made a deck of cards appeared before spreading them out. "Tarot cards?" Sarah questioned. "That's right. Each card you see before in an Arcana. Now people are not the only ones connected to an Arcana. Personas are also connected to them. And so the stronger you bond with a social link the strong those persona of the same Arcana will become." Sarah nodded in understanding.

Sarah sighed as she entered the tower, wishing Tony and Pepper went still up. "Sarah! Where have you been?" Pepper called from the couch as she got up. "Sorry Pepper. I got side tracked on the way back." Sarah made sure to hang her head and look guilty. "Sarah you know we don't like it when you stay out so late. Right Tony?" Pepper gave Tony a slight glare when she looked back and saw how little it seemed to bug him. "She not a kid Pepper. She wants to stay out late why stop her?" Sarah rolled her eyes at him. "Tony!" Pepper was clearly thinking about throwing something at him. Tony just smiled at her and tossed something to Sarah. Looking it over Sarah noticed it was about the side of a usb stick but had a button on it. "What's this?" Sarah asked holding it up. "Call it a panic button if you want. You push that it'll let Jarvis know you're in trouble as well as where you are and we'll come save you. Simple as that." Tony explained. _Does he really care about me? Or is this just his way of shutting Pepper up for a while? Doesn't matter._ "Whatever. I'm going to bed. Night." Sarah called as she headed for her room. "Wait, have you had dinner yet?" Pepper called after her as she followed. Sarah stopped and looked back at her. "No I haven't. I kind of figured that the kitchen is closed." She shrugged. "Kitchen hasn't closed since freeloaders moved in." Tony called. "Go ahead to your room, I'll bring you something to eat in a few minutes." Pepper offered. "Alright. Thanks Pepper."

Pepper brought Sarah a bowl of stew with a glass of water. Sarah happily ate while talking with Pepper about school, being careful to avoid any questions about what she and Peter do after school.

"Sarah, I know Tony can be a jerk most of the time but he does worry about you. In his own way." _Is she defending him or trying to comfort me? I know she cares, and Steve, and Bruce. Natasha might care but she doesn't show it and as for Clint. I have got to get that guy to talk to me more then just to tell jokes about Tony. Oh I can't forget Thor. I swear that guy is like an over sized puppy with anger management problems once something gets under his skin. Oh right, talking with Pepper._ "I don't really doubt he does care about me a little. Just wish he was easier to understand." Pepper chuckled at that. "Hey Pepper, how did my parents meet him anyway?" It was something she always wondered about. Her parents had been good people and she couldn't really see how they got along with someone like Tony Stark. "As I recall they met at a party. This was before the whole Ironman thing started though so he was worst then he is now." Sarah chuckled at that one. "Hard to picture something worst then the Tony down the hall." She joked. "Yeah. Well, I'll never forget when I met your parents. You mother was wearing a lovely light blue dress with a V neckline, the skirt ended just blow her knees. And your father wore a simple white dress shirt with black pants. They looked so classy even though they really hadn't put a lot time into their look. They came right over to us and just struck up a casual conversation about music. Your father had a good joke for every other song or singer. And your mother, once we left the men to talk she and I talked about wishes for the future and the men in our lives. I was surprise when your mother wrote me and told me about her marriage to your father. I knew the two of them were in love but I wasn't sure about how in love they were. But then came your birth. I doubt they told you but we were both there, in the hospital the day you were born." Pepper smiled at the memory while Sarah's jaw dropped. "Really?" She asked. "Yeah. We entered you mother's room and your father placed you right in Tony's arms. The look on his face." Pepper stopped to laugh. "He was so shocked I swear he was frozen for several minutes. "Your mother was the one to name Tony your godfather. You father took a little convincing but he quick agreed with her. Your mother, some days I swore she could talk anyone into anything. I miss her. Your father too." Sarah let out a heavy sigh. "It hurt a lot losing them. Weird thing about their deaths is that I was there and I don't remember any of it. My only memory of it is sitting on the ground next to them crying." Pepper placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's not weird Sarah. Seeing someone you care about die isn't easy. Most people block out the memory because it hurts so much. It's better not to remember something like that." Pepper reasoned. "Yeah I guess so. Thanks for the food and talk Pepper. I'll try to ease up on Tony for your sake." Pepper smiled and took the dishes. "Alright Sarah. I don't ask for anything more then that from you." The two shared a laugh at that. Suddenly the world seemed to freeze before Sarah's eyes and a card appeared before Pepper. It slowly turned reviling it's self to her. _Empress? I don't get it. What is this?_ The card faded and time began moving again. "Goodnight Sarah." Pepper called as she left the room. _Wait that card looked like a tarot card. Does that mean I just made my first social link?_ "Ugh! I think I should've asked more question while with Igor." Sarah flopped onto the bed thinking about strangling Igor with his big nose the next time she sees him.

Sarah was surprised to see Peter in the living room of the tower but he didn't give her time to question him as he asked to talk to her alone. Once in her room Peter took out a laptop and brought up a picture. "I don't know who she is but she knows about Shadows and Personas." Sarah's eyes widen in shock. "What? How?" She asked. "No idea. She was talking on her phone to someone named Akihiko about it. Sarah I think they're looking for you." At that Sarah took a closer look at the picture. "Never seen her before. But maybe Jarvis can tell us who she is. Jarvis?" Sarah called. "The woman in that picture is Mitsuru Kirijo." Was the answer she got. "Mitsuru Kirijo? Pepper had a meeting with her the day we entered the other world. How could she know about Shadows or even Personas?" Sarah asked herself. "Beats me. But she also hinted that this fight against the Shadows has happened before. We know she wasn't with Naoto and Yosuke's group. Could she have been with another group?" Peter wondered aloud. "No idea. And sadly unless we ask her about it we won't be getting any answers any time soon. What was the name of the person she was talking to again?" Sarah asked. "Akihiko. Records show that Ms. Kirijo attended her meeting with Ms. Potts with a man named Akihiko Sanada. It is most likely the same man she was speaking to." Jarvis answered. "Thank you Jarvis. And not a word of any of this to anyone." Sarah let out a sigh. "Great. Two unknowns in this mess. Come on Peter; let's get to school. I'll text Naoto and see what she can dig up on these two." Grabbing her bag Sarah headed off to try to regain some level of normal in her life.


	6. Learning about new and old faces

**Fool = Sarah**

**Magician = Peter (maybe)**

**Priestess = Naoto (maybe)**

**Empress = Pepper**

**Emperor = Tony (maybe)/ Peter (maybe)**

**Justice = Steve**

**Lovers = Peter (maybe)/ Janet Van Dyne/Wasp (maybe)**

**Chariot = Clint (maybe)/ Wolverine (maybe)**

Hierophant =

**Hermit = Clint (maybe)**

**Fortune = Coulson (maybe)/ Mitsuru (maybe)**

**Strength = Thor (maybe)/Akihiko(maybe)**

**Hangman = Bruce**

**Death = Loki (maybe)/ Fury (maybe)/Thor (maybe)**

**Temperance = Natasha (maybe)**

**Devil = Loki (maybe)/ Natasha (maybe)**

**Tower = Loki (maybe)**

**Star = Peter (maybe)/ Akihiko (maybe)**

**Moon = Teddie (maybe)**

**Sun**

**Judgement = persona team**

**That's the list so far. As you can see only Sun doesn't have any suggestion to it. Well one person did suggest Jarvis but I can't see myself making Sarah Social Link him. So please suggest who you think should fill that spot. Also tell me of the ones on the list above which ones you feel more strongly fit the Arcana.**

* * *

All anyone at school could talk about was the latest gossip regarding superheroes. Which Sarah was grateful for since they hadn't yet learned of her connection to Tony Stark. She was scared for the day when they would learn of it. For that day meant that she would be stuck with people faking wanting to be her friends just to get close to the Avengers. Classes went by uneventful with Sarah answering when asked by the teacher. Lunch was eaten with Peter outside in silence since the two had things to think about. After school, since Naoto was still stuck with a tail and hadn't found anyplace to gain a weapon for Sarah with out alerting anyone either in the police or the tower, Sarah was stuck going back to the tower to work on her homework "At least this is normal." She sighed before turning and walking through the doors to the tower.

"Sarah there you are. I'd like you to meet some people." Pepper called as soon as Sarah stepped off the elevator. Sarah nearly stopped dead as she saw one of the two Pepper was standing with was Mitsuru Kirijo. Taking a breath and putting on a friendly smile Sarah walked over to them. "Hi." She greeted. "Sarah this is Mitsuru Kirijo and Akihiko Sanada. This is Sarah Swizav, Tony's god daughter." Pepper introduced. "Nice to meet you Sarah." Mitsuru greeted while Akihiko nodded. "I wasn't told we were having guests." Sarah looked towards Pepper at that causing her to blush. "Ah I knew I forgot something. I'm sorry Sarah I meant to text you about this." Sarah waved her hand. "Forget it Pepper." "So we hear you just started recently at school. Must be hard adjusting to a new school so suddenly." Akihiko gave her a friendly smile. "Not really. I've already made a friend and just about caught up with all my classes." She answered. "Really? Wow! I haven't seen anyone adjust so well since…" Akihiko broke off with a sad look in his eyes. "Something wrong?" Pepper asked. "You'll have to forgive him. Sarah here reminds us of someone very dear to us who we lost during high school." Mitsuru explain, looking almost as sad as Akihiko. "Right well, moving on." Tony said as he joined them. "Oh great. He's here." Sarah sighed and rolled her eyes. "Sarah." Pepper's voice had a note of pleading to it. "Nice to see you to kid. And home at such an early hour I might add." It took Sarah a lot of effect not to react to that. "Early hour? What do you?" Mitsuru asked. "Sarah here has a record for not coming back till well after dark. Drives Pepper crazy." Was the explanation they got. Mitsuru and Akihiko looked between each other for a moment. "Sarah could you show me to the bathroom?" Mitsuru asked as she set her drink on the bar top. "Yeah sure. It's this way." The two headed off down the hall.

"You undoubtedly hear a lot of rumours around your school. Ever hear about something called Persona?" Sarah forced herself not to stop, even for a second. "Persona? No most people only ever seemed to talk about the supers around the city. Why? Is this Persona thing big?" Sarah wanted to pat herself on the back for lying so well. "No, it's just something I heard about a while ago. Thought it might be a teenager thing." Sarah stopped outside the bathroom. "Here you go. I'll head back to the others." Mitsuru stopped Sarah with a hand on her arm. "You know, you really do remind me of my old friend. Minako Arisato. She was very dear to me. But Akihiko loved her deeply. She was smart and quick like you. I wish you could've met her." Sarah gave Mitsuru a friendly smile. "She sounds like she was a nice person. Shame I can't meet her." Sarah then carefully removed Mitsuru's hand and walked back to the other three. _Is that her way of saying she knows I lied or is she really reminded of her by me? If she was on a team that fought against Shadows was this Minako a member of that team? So many questions and zero answers. For now at least._ Rejoining Pepper, Tony, and Akihiko Sarah did her best to relax and brush off any questions about what she does when out late.

That night Sarah was tempted to call Peter and let him know about her meeting with Mitsuru and Akihiko but decided against it. He worried enough about her with out adding that meeting to the pile. Besides she need to check in with Naoto both about her findings as well as when she should expect to meet more of Naoto's friends/former teammates. "Naoto it's Sarah." She greeted when the phone picked up. "Everything alright Sarah?" From the sounds of it Sarah was sure Naoto was in her hotel room. "Yeah fine. Did you find anything on Mitsuru Kirijo and Akihiko Sanada?" There was shuffling and a few clicks which Sarah took to mean a keyboard. "Yes I did. They both attended Gekkoukan High school together and lived in the same dorm building. They seemed to also have a unique circle of friends that all belonged to the same odd club called SEES. It's listed here as a private club that shut down right after the two of them left school. There is also a record of them visiting an Officer Kurosawa often. Odd. It seems he was suspected of selling weapons from the station he work at. They never found any proof so suspicions were dropped." Naoto relayed. "What about a Minako Arisato?" Sarah had to know if she too lived in the same dorm. A few clicks later. "Same dorm, same private club. Wow, she really worked hard. Several other clubs are listed here along with part time night jobs, add to that her year of nothing but top marks and it's amazing how much she got done. Wait what's this?" There was another click before a sigh. "She died after her first year at Gekkoukan. Heart failure it seem. Doctors chalked it up to working too hard in such short a time line. Seems she also visited Officer Kurosawa. A lot more then the other two." Sarah sighed and took a seat on her bed. "Mitsuru and Akihiko were here when I got back from school. And just this morning Peter told me that he over heard Mitsuru talking to Akihiko about Personas and Shadows. I think this might prove they've had dealings with them." "But that doesn't make any sense. If they fought the Shadows before me and my group why did they come back?" Sarah agreed with the question. "And why are they back now? Is it to carry on man kinds wish for death or is something else at work here? So many questions and not enough answers." Sarah sighed. "Or clues to help us guess at an answer. There are a list of names of other people who lived in the dorm and appear to be former members of SEES if you're interested." Naoto offered. "Give me them." "Junpei Iori, Yukari Takeba, Fuuka Yamagishi, Ken Amada, Aigis, Koromaru, and Shinjiro Aragaki. Interesting." Naoto was clicking away at her keyboard. "What is?" Sarah asked. "Ken Amada was a elementary school student during the time Mitsuru and Akihiko were in high school yet he is listed as a member of their club and living at their dorms. Koromaru however was a dog they took in. Aigis has no last name nor is there any record of her anywhere before or after high school. And Shinjiro Aragaki appears to have been killed on October 4th 2009. A victim of a gang is what is listed." Naoto explained. "Odd. A child, a dog, and a girl with out any form of record. What else can you tell me about this Shinjiro?" Sarah asked. "I'll send you the files I have on him." Sarah got up and opened her laptop, clicking on the email she just received from Naoto. "Hm? Dropped out of school and left the dorms for a while then suddenly started up again." Sarah read. "Seems while he was homeless he lived around a bad ally. However he was also in an orphanage with Akihiko and appears to be one of the founding members of SEES. The other two being Mitsuru and Akihiko." "The plot thickens. Alright I think that's enough digging for now. But do keep an eye out for anything that strikes you as odd regarding anyone listed in their group." Sarah ran a hand through her hair and shut off her laptop. "Any more of your friends going to be arriving in the city?" Naoto was silent save for more clicking. "I got an email from Yu, seems he's stuck with his family for the week and there for unable to come meet you until next week. However Kanji might be able to make it down in the next few days. Seems someone from the city placed an order from his mother's shop and he's volunteering to go with the order to make sure it arrives safely. Other then that it's up in the air." Naoto sighed. "Alright I look forward to meeting him. Best we call it a night. Good night Naoto." Naoto said night back and the two hung up.

Sarah the following morning received a text from Naoto telling her that she knew for sure that Kanji was coming down. Sarah was glad to hear she was going to be meeting another of Naoto's friends; after all Yosuke had been nice to her and totally cool with the thought of taking orders from her. "Teddie we're not going in there!" Turning her head she saw Yosuke trying to pull a blond guy in a white shirt away from a store. Walking over to them Sarah heard the guy say, "But Yosuke can't we just take a peek inside. I promise I'll keep my hands to myself." Yosuke rolled his eyes. "That's what you said last time. Oh! Hey Sarah." That got the blond guy to stop struggling. "Yosuke is that her? The girl like Sensei?" He asked. "Yeah. Sarah this is Teddie. Another member of the Investigation Team back in Inaba." Teddie smiled at Sarah. "Nice to meet you Teddie." She then turned to Yosuke. "When did he arrive? Naoto didn't say anything about him." Yosuke rubbed at the back of his head with a light blush. "Yeah sorry about that. I kind of left him in my room back at the hotel when I went to meet you and I hadn't really gotten around to telling her about him either." Rolling her eyes Sarah turned back to Teddie. "How are you enjoying New York Teddie?" She asked him. "I really like it here. I just wish all my friends could be here with me." He answered. "Come on Teddie the gang's trying to make it down." Yosuke offered. "Naoto tells me Kanji's coming down in a few days." At that Teddie seemed to perk up. "Really Sarah?" Sarah nodded and showed him the text message. "Alright that is some good news. Kanji packs one hell of a punch in battle so he's bound to be a big help if he's staying around." "Yosuke's right. And I'm sure you'll like him Sarah." Teddie agreed. Sarah went to ask about Kanji when her cell rang. "Hello?" She didn't even glance at the caller id. "Hey kiddo! What ya doing?" It was Tony. "Nothing. Are you calling out of boredom?" Sarah sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Nah, just wondering who those two guys with you are? Got yourself a couple boyfriends or something?" Sarah gasped and looked around. "Where are you?" She asked before hearing the line go dead. "Tony." She growled into her cell. "Yes Sarah?" Turning she found Tony standing behind her. "Why must you be such a pain?" She sighed. "Whoa! It's Tony Stark." Yosuke was clearly in awe. "And who are you two?" Tony asked. "Oh I'm Yosuke Hanamura and this is Teddie." "And what's you relation to my god daughter?" Sarah was sure he was doing this to annoy her. "God daughter!?" Yosuke's eyes snapped over to Sarah. "Yeah, my parents lost their sanity and named him my god father." She sighed. "Well she had just given birth to you." Tony smirked. "They are friends of Naoto. She asked me to be friends with them and show them some things around the city. So stop bugging us." Sarah explained. "So where are we off to then?" Sarah face palmed. _This guy should be grateful I don't have a weapon yet._ "It's ok. Sarah doesn't have to show us around." Yosuke had clearly noticed Sarah's discomfort around Tony. "Oh come now. I know the best places in the city." Sarah had her phone out and looking for a certain id. Once she found it she clicked it and held the phone to her ear. "Hey Pepper. Can you come get Tony?" At that Tony looked shocked. Sarah just smirked at him.

Once Tony was gone, dragged back to the tower by Pepper Sarah took Yosuke and Teddie for a quick bite. They told her about the battles they fought and the personas they used, even explained to her how the dungeons in the other world they visited changed every time they left the dungeon. Teddie was very interested in the world Sarah and Yosuke had visited and expressed his wish to visit that world. Sarah made a promise to take him to the other world before the two guys left her to go back to their hotel room. Sarah, not wanting to go back and face Tony wondered the streets window-shopping. "Hm, what's that?" Sarah had stopped outside a store with medieval armour standing outside of it. Entering the store Sarah noticed weapons and armour all over the place along with metal art work. "Come on in young lady!" The young man at the front desk greeted her. "Take a look around and let me know if something catches you eye. Or if you like I can have my old man make you a custom piece. We do everything from artwork to jewellery to weapons and armour. So if you got your pretty heart set on something just let me know." He was clearly flirting with her. Sarah took a look at the weapons behind the desk. Swords, both long and short, single hand or two hand types. Daggers and gauntlets of all types. "Ah you like weapons huh?" The guy asked. "Tell me are these weapons well build for actual usage?" The guy chuckled. "Planning on going to one of those medieval fairs? Yeah these things can take a beating and keep on swinging." He explained. "And what do I need to do to buy one?" The guy got a thoughtful look for a moment. "Well we're pretty lacks with who we sell to. So long as you check out you know? A police screening. We only do it once. After that we put your name in the computer and you're clear to buy as much as you want." He explained. "How long do screenings take?" "Normally only a couple of days. At the most a week. We just need your name and we can start the process." He shrugged. "Sarah Lee Swizav." The guy entered her name in the computer. "Alright I just sent it to the police for a screening. No worries though. Unless you got a record with them they won't raise a fuse over you shopping here. Swizav huh? Interesting name. I'm Jak. Hey you look like the type that might come into some interesting parts. My old man is in a bit of a rut. If you get your hands on some parts he might be able to craft you something interesting from them. Plus I'd be more then willing to pay you for them." Sarah nodded to Jak. "So any weapon caught your eye?" Sarah looked over the weapons on the back wall, her eyes landing on a pair of dual daggers. They had a curve to their blades and appeared to be nearly the length of her wrist to her elbow. The hilt was wrapped in blue leather and the blades had blue tribal designs. "Ah good eye." Jak took the daggers down and set them on the counter. "These are of good make, one of my old man's better weapons from back when mom left him. Think he had plans to kill her when he crafted these beauties but changed his mind afterwards. Good balance, strong metal, and a great grip. Might need a sharpening but that's easy to do." Jak explained. "Can you hold them for me till my screening checks out?" Sarah asked. Jak took out a small brown book from under the counter. Opening it reviled it to be a client list. "Just write down your name and number and I'll give ya a call when it's done." Taking the pen from his hand Sarah quickly filled out her info in the S section of the book. "Thank you Jak. Oh I better get home. See ya." Sarah waved as she headed for the door. "See ya later Sarah. Tell your friends about us." Jak called as the door closed.

"So you found a place to sell you weapons and armour?" Naoto asked over the phone. "Yeah it's a metal works shop. The guy at the desk is doing a screening to make sure I'm ok but after one screening I can buy whatever I want from him." Sarah answered while towelling herself off. She had taken a bath to get Tony off her back, and then decided to call Naoto with an update on the weapon problem. "I see. I'll see if I can take care of the screening. The quicker you can buy weapons and armour the better." Naoto offered. "Sounds good. They got some really nice stuff there. Oh by the way, don't know if Yosuke got around to telling you but he's got Teddie with him." Sarah heard Naoto sighed but could detect a hint of a smile. "Yeah I kind of guessed that he brought Teddie but forgot to say anything. After all Since Teddie first started coming to our world he's been living with Yosuke." A knock at the door cut Sarah off. "Sarah dinner." It was Steve. "Coming!" She called. "Have to go Naoto. I'll text you later." "Ok Sarah. Hopefully tomorrow leads to me being free of my tail so we can meet up. Goodnight." With that they both hung up and Sarah, after throwing on some pjs headed for the kitchen.

"And then Sarah called the Pepper patrol on me." Tony had clearly been telling the others either about his day or what he saw. "I don't blame her." Sarah threw a grateful smile to Steve. "So those two were friends of detective Naoto?" Pepper asked after elbowing Tony. "Yeah. They went to high school in Japan together so she felt it would be best for them to have a guide to the city." Sarah explained. "Hey what's with the police screening you're under going?" Sarah nearly choked on her water at Tony's question. "Police screening?" Pepper asked. "Well I found an interesting metal shop and was thinking about buying something from there. However you have to be screened first since they also do things like blades and what not. That's the reason I'm being screened." They all seemed to accept that to veering degrees. "They have good stuff?" Natasha asked. "Oh yeah. They got all kinds of well-crafted things. Thinking about getting a dragon I saw there." Sarah sent a silent plea to anyone that was listening that both Natasha and Clint didn't start following her or something. There would be no hiding anything from them if they really wanted the truth. "Cool. Well I'm heading back to the lab before Sarah finds a way to torment me." Tony threw a smirk at a, now glaring Sarah before leaving the kitchen. "He really makes it hard for me to stop hating him." Sarah grumbled as Steve set a plate before her. "I know he does Sarah and I'm sorry about it. I'll talk to him about lightening up on you." Pepper offered. "Pepper you can talk to him all you want it won't do any good. An ass always stays an ass." Sarah sighed. "Hey!" Steve was now glaring at her. "Sorry Steve." Sarah then began toying with her food.

Sarah was brushing out her hair before bed. Her homework lay done and ready to had in and she'd gotten a call from Jak that her screening was done and she could come pick up her weapons whenever she wanted. _Naoto sure works fast. Only been a day since Jak got it started._ Set down the brush Sarah was tempted to tie her hair back but knew that if she did she'd spend most of the morning struggling and ripping out her own hair trying to free it. She was just about to stand and head for bed when the mirror suddenly stopped reflecting her. Looking closer Sarah noticed small holes appearing along the surface of the mirror. "What the?" Light was coming through the holes and Sarah could just make out a shadow of something through some of the holes. "Sarah." It was a faint voice calling out through the mirror. "Who's there?" Sarah called back. "Sarah. Come." The voice called before the holes began filling in. Soon Sarah was facing her reflection. "Weird. Jarvis did you notice anything strange about my mirror?" "None of my scans show anything strange about it." Was the response she got. "Some how I'm not surprise." Sarah sighed.

Naoto had finally been freed from having to have an officer tailing her. So, that morning she was free to meet up with Sarah with Yosuke and Teddie in tow. Peter ran up to them just outside a small café and joined them. Each one of them had a troubled look about them. Once seated and with coffee and tea and muffins they waited for someone to start talking. Sighing Sarah knew she had to be the one to begin the conversation. "Last night." At that everyone turned to her and tensed up. "The mirror in my room filled with small holes that let light in but there was something behind the mirror calling out to me. It was faint but I could tell it was calling to me." Naoto looked thoughtful. "I heard it calling my name last night. Or did I miss hear it?" Yosuke asked. "You must've Yosuke cause it was clearly calling Teddie." Teddie answered. "No I think it was calling each of us." Peter corrected. "Yes I think Peter's right. Each of us who saw what happened to the mirrors heard the thing in them calling out our own name." Naoto explained. "But what was it?" Peter asked. "I know I'm one of the newbies to this whole thing but after listening to you three explaining your time in the investigation team I can't help but wonder if it was a Shadow." Sarah suggested. Naoto eyes widen. "You're right! This does sound like the kind of thing a Shadow would do. But why is it calling to us?" Naoto asked. "Yeah, the Shadows normally take a persons' deepest secrets, the things they don't want to admit to anyone, even themselves and revile them to the world. But this Shadow is calling to us. Like it's targeting us." Yosuke pointed out. "But who's Shadow is it?" Teddie asked looking at each of them. Naoto let out a heavy sigh. "It's too early for us to be able to tell. Back during the investigation we had the Midnight Channel. Whenever someone appeared on it, it took some time to be able to fully see who it was we were looking at." She explained. "Wait do you think someone's been thrown into that world?" Yosuke asked, a panicked look on his face. "We won't know until we can see the person in the mirror more clearly. For now we should go about our lives. Sarah is now able to buy weapons so we can begin training today. Peter will you be joining us?" Peter shook his head. "Sorry Naoto but no. I promised my aunt that I would help her after school." Peter was lying. He was going out after school as Spiderman. It hurt him to lie to them. Sarah was a great girl. Easy to talk to, willing to listen, and more then happy to help out. Yosuke and Teddie seemed like trust worthy guys and Naoto was growing on him. But he had to lie to them. At least that's what he told himself. "Alright then. Naoto, Yosuke, and Teddie. I'll meet you in the ally after school. Oh after I get my weapons mind you." Sarah told them. "Make sure to buy some armour too. We can use our old gear so don't worry about us." Naoto reminded her. With a nod the five of them paid for their drinks and snacks before heading off.


	7. Tension and uselessness

Jak was standing at the counter reading a magazine when Sarah entered. "Hey Sarah welcome back." He greeted her after looking up. "Here to pick up those sweet daggers?" He asked. "Yes and I was thinking about getting that dragon for my desk." Sarah pointed to a small silver dragon wrapped around a castle. "Nice pick." Jak took out the daggers and grabbed the dragon, placing them in the same cloth bag before ringing them up. "Alright for the daggers and the dragon that's $146.33." Sarah paid with her card (or rather the card Pepper had given her that allows her to use Tony's money for all her shopping) knowing that if she was questioned about the daggers she can call them wall décor. After all she already had the wall mounts for them. After paying for the two (three) items Sarah looked over to a vest with metal plating and pointed to it. "How much is that?" She asked. Jak looked at it before rubbing the back of his neck. "That if I remember right is 57 plus tax." Sarah walked over and grabbed it. "I'll take it." She then pulled out 60 from her pocket. She could explain away the daggers as her spotting them when she went to get her dragon and wanted them. But any more weapons and there'd been questions, add to that armour and there was no way she'd be able to lie her way out of the trouble that would followed. With her new gear and décor Sarah thanked Jak. "Hey hold up." Sarah stopped confused at Jak's words. "Told my old man about you and he wanted to meet ya. He's just in the back." Sarah thought for a second before nodding. Jak disappeared through the door behind the counter.

"This is Sarah dad." Jak returned with a man in his late 40s with brown greying hair and steely grey eyes. The man held out his hand and she shook it. "Alex. We don't get many kids your age here." He commented. "I don't think many know about this place." Sarah suggested. "Guess not. Happy to have you as a customer though. Find everything alright?" Sarah nodded. "Yep. Your son just finished ringing me up a moment ago." Alex nodded. "Good. Well we best let you go. Take care and come again." Sarah smiled and waved as she turned and left the shop.

"Sorry I was a little late." Sarah said as she slipped on her new vest and daggers. "It's alright. After all we still had to wait for the door to appear." Naoto dismissed. Sarah nodded before looking at Teddie with a raised brow. He was wearing some kind of odd bear suit. It was mostly red with bits of blue here and there. "That is how Teddie looked when we first met him. That is before he grew his body." Yosuke explained. That surprised Sarah. "I was a lonely bear till I met Sensei and the others." Teddie told her. "Alright the door should be appearing soon." Naoto informed them. Nodding Sarah tried to ready herself but noticed a strange blurry shape in the distance. She could tell it was red and it seemed to be moving but nothing more. "Alright there it is." Yosuke's voice drew her attention back to what they were doing. "Wow! So that's the door to the other world?" Teddie asked. "Let's get in there, introduce Teddie to our three friends and then get to training." Sarah said before going to the door and opening it.

Peter hadn't wanted to go to the ally where Sarah and the others were but he felt he had to at least make sure they got to the other world ok. So he perched on a roof across from the ally the four of them were gathered in. He was sure he had been seen but none of them reacted to him. "Be careful in there Sarah." He whispered as he saw them disappear through the door. "I should be with them! But even if they knew I'm Spiderman I'm still useless to them. All I could do it warn them when some thing's about to attack. I shouldn't even been attending the meetings they have." He sighed. He hated himself for his weakness. He was a hero and yet Sarah and those guys were able to fight the battles in that world and he was not. "Well. I best get back to what I do good." A flick of his wrist and he was swinging away.

"Sarah watch your back!" Naoto yelled as she shot at a Shadow. Twisting around Sarah swung her daggers towards the Shadow, knocking it off it's feet. "Nice Sarah!" Yosuke called. Sarah threw him a smile before charging over to Teddie to help with the large muscular Shadow he was fighting. "Grrr! Go down already!" Teddie yelled at it. "Easy Teddie. Don't let your anger get the better of you." Sarah warned.

"Good work everyone." Naoto said as Teddie healed their wounds. "Way to go Sarah! You are the best!" Star was dressed like a gothic cheerleader waving red and silver pom poms around. "Star I wasn't the only one fighting." Sarah laughed. "Forget it Sarah. Star is like Teddie when Yu is around." Yosuke joked. "Star, Zaci, Jade do any of you pay attention to any of the Shadows here?" Naoto asked them. "Sometimes we notice things about the Shadows. What are you looking for?" Jade asked. "We think a Shadow is trying to get us to come to them. They appear in our mirrors for brief moments before disappearing." She explained. "Hm? I haven't noticed anything odd about the Shadows. Zaci? Star?" Jade looked to the other two. "I haven't seen anything out of the ordinary from the Shadows." Zaci answered. "Me either. I'm sorry." Star hung her head and looked sad. "It's ok Star. This is most likely the first time this has happened so we can't expect you guys to know what to look for." Sarah comforted. "We will search while you're gone and report the moment we find something." Jade promised. "Thank you. Don't push yourselves too hard guys. We are grateful to you for all you're doing for us and don't want any of you to get hurt." Sarah told them. "Whatever. Just get going." What little of his face Sarah could see Sarah noticed Zaci was blushing.

"Wow, is that the dragon you were planning to buy?" Pepper asked as she tilted the dragon to get a better look at it. Sarah had already put her daggers up on the wall by her bed. "Yep that's the one. Pretty cool huh?" She asked. Pepper nodded. "It's really nice. But why did you buy those." Pepper pointed to the daggers. "I like tribal designs. So when I saw them I knew I had to have them. But I plan on hiding them when I leave. I don't trust Tony not to take them and hide them or something." Pepper let out a sigh at that. "Sarah I know he is pushing you past your limits but that is just the way he is." Pepper was clearly struggling to find a way to explain Tony to her in a way she'd believe. "You really love him huh?" Sarah asked. Pepper smiled and let out a small chuckle. "Is it really that crazy?" Pepper asked. Sarah shook her head. "No, it's a good thing. I might not be able to stand him but at least someone can." Sarah was joking. The two shared a laugh. "You two just need more time Sarah. Or something ground breaking. Then you'll get along." Pepper said before heading leaving the room. _I fell a little closer to her. Like I understand her better. Guess I've become closer to her._ Sarah took out her homework from her bag and sat at her desk. Throwing a smile to her dragon she opened her textbook and began answering the questions she was told by teachers to do.

Sarah had stood before her mirror the night before in hopes of seeing more of the figure behind the mirror. But it never came. So she went to bed at 1:46 am wondering if any of the others had done the same thing as her. Waking the next more Sarah stood before the mirror wondering if it could appear during the day for a few minutes before heading for the kitchen to eat. "Ugh!" Sarah had been shocked to see Mitsuru and Akihiko sitting at the island drinking coffee with Pepper, Steve, and Bruce. "Morning Sarah." Steve greeted her. Pulling herself together Sarah threw a smile to him before fixing herself a tea. "Mitsuru. Akihiko." Sarah greeted as she sat down. "Good morning Sarah." Akihiko greeted back. "What brings you two here so early?" Sarah asked as she blew on her tea. "Some problems we're having with the contract Tony sent me. This deal seems to be taking longer then expected to forge." Mitsuru answered. "Have something else you would rather be doing?" Sarah asked, suspecting what it is they'd be doing. "There are some things I could think of to do other then sit around arguing with Stark over this." Mitsuru agreed. "Tony and I are working to ensure both parties are happy in the end of this." Pepper assured her. "I know Pepper. But I don't normally allow so much time to past when it comes to a deal. I hope you understand how much I want this to work out between our two companies." Mitsuru was giving Pepper an understand look but Sarah could see the annoyance in her eyes. "I'm going to grab a bite on the way to school. Laters guys." Sarah waved as she left the kitchen. To her surprise Tony was leaning against the wall just around the corner from the kitchen. He appeared tired, like he hadn't slept the night in a while and was running out of energy. "Everything alright?" Sarah asked him. He pushed himself off the wall and threw her a grin. "Now why wouldn't they be?" He asked. "Because you look like hell and Mitsuru is in the kitchen while you're here." Sarah pointed out. "Just letting Pepper relax her so I can go in there and work my magic." Sarah rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. I'm getting dressed and heading for school. Away from all this." She walked pasted him and only got 6 steps before he called out to her. "You sound like you hate it here." She sighed and turned back to him. "Though there are people here that I like I do tend draw out the trip back. Now if you don't mind Tony I want to get going so I still have time to get something to eat before my first class starts." She then turned and headed for her room. Not hear the sad sigh that came from Tony before he turned to head for the kitchen.

At the coffee shop Sarah sent Peter a text asking if he wanted to visit the other world with her after school. As she waited she thought the line had moved so she took a step forward, only to end up bumping into the guy ahead of her. "Oh sorry!" The guy turned around, reviling them to be tall and lean with bleached blond hair and a small scar near his eyebrow. "No problem." He assured her with a friendly smile. Sarah returned the smile and held out her hand. "Sarah." He shook her hand. "Kanji." Sarah's eyes widened at the name. "Kanji Tatsumi?" She asked. "Yeah, how'd you know?" He was surprised to say the least. "Naoto most likely told you about me. Sarah Swizav." At that his eyes widened. "You're the girl she told me about. No way!" Sarah chuckled at his shocked. "Yeah that's me. I thought you were coming later in the week though." She was surprised by how early he was. "Caught an early flight. Meant to tell Naoto but my phone's battery hasn't been the same since I dropped it in the river back in Inaba a month ago." He explained. Sarah nodded before pointing to the line, letting him know the two could move up. "So you're the new team leader huh? Naoto speaks fondly of you. Yosuke too." Sarah blushed. "I'm still wrapping my head around leading so many pros. After all I got Naoto, Yosuke, and Teddie fighting along side me. They know what they're doing but they want me to lead them." Kanji nodded in understanding. "Well even after all these years all of us are still willing to follower someone else into battle." He shrugged. "Think you'll be able to stick around and help with the fight?" Kanji shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know." He sighed. "Since mom finally put her shop online we've been getting a lot of request for stuff. Luckily I managed to talk her into hiring student part time to help with the shop. So it's a wait and see. But I will help out as much as I can as long as I'm here." He promised. "Thanks Kanji. I don't ask for anything more." Kanji gave her a large smile. "Man, we've only been talking a few minutes and already I feel like we're best friends. No wonder they like you so well." He commented before turning and placing his order. Sarah took the time to check her phone. Peter's answer was a simple "I don't know. Ask me later." To which Sarah sighed. "Everything alright?" Kanji asked. "Yeah. My friend Peter knows about what we do but he's not one of us. I was asking him if he wanted to go with me to that place but he isn't sure right now." She tucked her phone away and placed her order. "Wait if he's not like us then is it really safe for him to be going there?" Kanji asked. The two took their drinks and snacks and found a seat. "You mean about how when you guys were going into the TV people would have to face their Shadows? So far nothing's happened the last couple times he's been there so I don't think we have to worry about that." Sarah dismissed. "Ok. So tell me about this other world and what's happened so far." He wanted to hear from her the details of what happened from the moment she entered that world for the first time to the last time she was there.

Kanji was so wrapped up in what Sarah was telling him that he walked with her to school. "Wow, that must've been tough on you. And you managed to keep it together all this time. You have to be one of the strongest woman I've every meet." Sarah smiled and blushed at the complement. "Thanks Kanji. But I've only just begun to fight the Shadows. I can't promise I will be able to keep it together all the time but I will try." She promise. "Hey that's all any of us can do. Heck that's all any of us did back when it was us doing all the fighting." Kanji assured her. "Sarah who's this?" Peter asked as he walked over to them. "Peter this is Kanji. Kan-Peter what happened to you!?" Sarah asked as she spotted the bruises on Peter's face. "Oh it's nothing. Just tripped is all." Peter tried to hide his face from her. "Dude don't lie. I can tell you been in a fight." Kanji's tone was a bit harsh but his face showed nothing but concern. "It's no big deal. I get beaten up nearly every day." Peter shrugged. Sarah sighed at that. "Ok Peter. I'll accept that." Kanji went to say something but one look from Sarah and he backed off. "Listen Kanji why don't you go check in with Naoto? Or at least get a new battery for your phone?" She suggested to him. "Yeah you're right. Naoto needs to know I'm here now and she can put me in contact with Yosuke and Teddie. Nice meeting you both. See ya." He waved to them as he turned and headed off. "So he's one of Naoto's former team mates huh? Interesting." Peter said before turning and heading for the main doors. Sarah quickly followed him. "Peter if I didn't know any better I'd say you were mad at me or something." She couldn't understand why he seemed to be so quite or walking off without checking to make sure she was following. "Sorry. Just got a lot on my mind." He dismissed. Sarah frowned but said nothing more about it.


	8. Blowing up and clearer mirror

Peter denied going with Sarah to the other world. So she went alone to meet with Naoto and them, not knowing that a young man in blue and red was following her. All she had to do was look up and any point, at any red light and she would've seen him clear as day. But she never did. And for that he was grateful. Peter didn't want Sarah questioning why Spiderman was following her to the ally the team was waiting for her in. He knew he couldn't help her in that world; but at least he could make sure she makes it to the ally safely.

The folding chair Kanji had brought with him surprised Sarah. But then Yosuke explained to her that Kanji used things like chairs, desk, and bathtub lids in battle. Sarah wasn't sure what to make of that but didn't question it. Star was dressed like a pop star and as always she hung close to Sarah. None of the three had anything to report so Sarah ordered the group to start training. For a few seconds she hung back and watched how the four interacted in battle before joining in. She wanted to know just how Kanji fought along side people before joining the fray. After all if he ended up being able to stay she needed to know just what he could do and more importantly what would bring him down. Strengths and weaknesses are important to know in a team and since she had only just met Kanji that day she was making sure to learn his while at the same time building up her own strength. Even if he didn't stick around it was important to know what everyone who was available to her brings to the team.

Sweaty, tired, hungry, and annoyed. That summed up Sarah's mood as she rode the elevator up to the top floor. They'd managed to get tangled up in a longer, and harder battle against the Shadow and on the way home some guys tried to offer her money for sex. And they didn't take no for an answer until a cop car pulled up next to them. She just wanted to take a bath, grab something to eat, and get some sleep. She only wished she could do all three at once. However as she left the elevator and entered the kitchen she could only groan when she found Tony there. "Whoa what truck ran you over?" He asked, as he looked her over. "Go to hell." She growled before ripping open the fridge and grabbing things to make sandwiches with. "Wow, someone's pmsing today." It was clearly meant as a friendly tease but at that moment Sarah wasn't in the mood for it. "Shut the hell up already you moron!" She snapped at him over her shoulder. Tony was stunned for the few minutes it took for her to make her sandwiches. "Alright what happened to make you so upset?" He asked, for once, in the brief time Sarah's known him looking concerned for her. "Well let's see. This morning I get harassed by my jerk of a god father, get the cold shoulder from my best guy friend, spend the rest of my day training far longer then I would've liked too, get treated like a hooker by a bunch of jack asses, only come back here wanting food, a bath, and sleep yet having to deal with YOU!" Tony flinched as she yelled the last bit. "What's going on in here?" Bruce asked as he entered the kitchen. "Oh nothing new. Just Stark being a jerk as always." Sarah snapped before storming out of the kitchen. "Tony." Bruce sighed. "I know. I need to lay off on her." Tony sighed, not letting Bruce see the slightly pained look in his eyes as he turned them to his tablet.

Sarah felt so relaxed and sleepy after eating two and a half sandwiches and taking a long hot bath with her peppermint soap and shampoo. Brushing her hair out in front of her mirror Sarah thought back to the things she had said to Tony and let out a sigh. "I better make sure I say sorry in the morning. For Pepper's sake at least." Truth was she did feel upset with herself over what she had said to him. She had been unfair in taking out her anger on him and owed it to him to apologise to him. After all she was sure if he had been given a choice in things he wouldn't have let her move into the tower. He most likely wouldn't have chosen to be her godfather. Yet here she was in HIS tower. Nearly everything in her room was bought with HIS money. And all the food she ate came from HIS kitchen. Though he acted like a jerk to her he still looked after her. Still paid for her. The least she could do was take back her words.

"Sarah." She was snapped from her thoughts as a voice called out to her. Looking up from her lap, which she didn't realize she had been staring at she found the mirror had holes in it. A little larger then last time and she could make out an outline of the Shadow. They had clearly taken a human form and from the looks of it an adult, possibly male. "Sarah. Come." The voice was a little louder. She could tell it was male and it sounded somewhat familiar to her. "Where? Where are you?" She didn't think it could hear her but she had to ask. "See you soon Sarah." She gasped as the figure waved to her as the mirror sealed up and began reflecting her again. "Damn it!" She growled. Picking up her phone she called Naoto. "I was just about to call you." Was the greeting she got. "I take it then that you saw it too?" She asked. "Yeah. Hold on Yosuke and Kanji are trying to get through. I'll put us on four way." There was a second or two of beeping before she heard Yosuke asked. "Did you see that?" And Kanji's ask of "What the hell did I just see?" "Clam down the both of you. Sarah on the line with us." Naoto informed them. "Sarah! Sarah! What did that Shadow mean when it said it'd see us soon? Does it mean it's going to revile it's self?" Teddie asked. "Could be Teddie. However we still don't know where it is or even who's Shadow it is." Sarah answered. "Man. First the Midnight Channel now mirrors? What'd the team before us use?" Kanji asked. "No idea. The problem we have is not knowing who to suspect that Shadow belonging too." Naoto sighed. "Yeah, back in Inaba it was easy to tell. Just had to watch the news. If a person was shown on TV then ended up on the Midnight Channel." Yosuke explained. "But New York shows thousands of people on TV so there's no way to figure it out that way." Sarah sighed. "I guess we wait and see who it is. One thing for sure though, the Shadow knows we can see it." Everyone agreed with that. There was no other way to explain why it had waved to them. "Do you think other people look in the mirror and see it?" Kanji asked. "Doubtful. In this city if they did see it, it'd been on the news before even five minutes could pass between the Shadow disappearing and the news airing." Naoto pointed out. "Well that's one thing going for us then." Yosuke sighed. "Did anyone else think the voice of the Shadow was familiar?" Sarah asked. Kanji said no but Naoto, Yosuke, and even Teddie felt they heard it before. "So it has to be someone the four of us know. Damn it! This is getting us no where." She was getting angrier by the second. "We're all tired from training. Best to get some sleep and talk about this with clear heads. Let's all meet for coffee in the morning." Naoto suggested. Everyone agreed to that and said their good nights. Sarah sent a quick text to Peter, letting him know about the morning meeting before she crawled into bed.

In the ally Sarah and her friends used to get to the other world two figures in the shadows were conversing. "I don't know why you are so worried. She's filling her ranks with old Persona users. None of them know of the strain that comes from using Personas as they get older." The voice was muffled but clearly that of a young woman. "Just because she's using old ones now does not mean she will keep using them. And I worry because she is the wild card. The Fool Arcana. The one who can change the balance in her favour. You have seen what the Fool can do and yet you act as if she is no different then the rest!" It was a muffled male voice that growled this. "Then we should kill her. Here in this world!" The woman snapped, annoyed that her partner was allowing something that could so easily be taken care off bother him. "No. I have already set in motion a much better idea. The Fool is many things. One of them being over caring. I plan to attack her heart. Give her reason to not want anything to do with the other world and Shadows. Once she gives up we can take the other world and use it as we planned to." The woman sighed. "You know this is a gamble that the Order will not look fondly on? And should it back fire! Well, I doubt it needs saying." She sighed. "The Order knows I don't do things unless I'm sure it will work. Now go. Tell them that the Fool is being dealt with." The woman let out one final sigh before leaving the ally. Her long blond curls bouncing as she walked out of site. "Stupid Order. I can barely stomach the rubbish they spill forth. But as long as they serve useful to me I shall play their games." The male heading out of the ally, running a hand through short red and black hair as he got into his waiting car. A chuckle resounded through the ally as a figure jumped from a rooftop into the ally. "Well now this is interesting. I wonder what all this talk of Fools and Personas is about? Orders and Shadows? I guess I shall have to watch this ally and track the ones who come and go from it." They cast their eyes to the glowing door set into one of the ally's walls. But as they turned to walk over to it the door flickered out of existence. "Hm?" They place a hand where the door was and muttered something, but the door did not reappear. "Not summoned by magic clearly. Now I'm really interested. Perhaps I'll get close to the first mortals I see coming into this ally when the door is here. They should be able to answer my questions. And if not I shall simple enter through the door myself." The figure then vanished into thin air.

The following morning Sarah forgot about telling Tony she was sorry about the things she said to him. She just grabbed the offered tea from Bruce, told everyone she was meeting friends before school, and then raced back to her room to get dressed. Completely unaware that Tony had been hoping to take to her a little before she left that morning. "Second day she's gone out to eat before school." Bruce commented. "I hope she's not trying to fit in with the wrong crowd. You know, the kinds that make her do all kinds of work for them but don't call her a friend." Pepper voiced as she craned her neck to try to catch a glimpse of what Sarah was wearing that morning. "Doubtful. After all Peter seemed like a good guy." Steve pointed out. "Yeah I agree. He'd keep her from ending up with people that'd used her." Bruce agreed. "Not really." Tony sighed. "What makes you say that?" Pepper asked. "Last night while she was acting all grumpy she told me that he had been giving her the cold shoulder yesterday." He explained while not taking his eyes off his tablet. "You meant as she was yelling at you." At that comment from Bruce Pepper turned red with anger. "What did you do?" She growled at him. Tony sighed, wishing he was locked in his lab so he could just forget the things bugging him. "I noticed she looked like hell so I tried asking her about it. She got mad so I tried to ease the tension in the room with a joke. She exploded on me so I cut the crap and asked her flat out what was wrong. She yelled and then stormed off." He rubbed at his eyes, feeling a wave of exhaustion wash over him. "Tony you know she doesn't like how you joke with her. She feels as if you are picking on her! She also feels like you don't have a single care for her so she probably figured you were just asking cause it was expected of you." Tony had had enough. "I'm trying alright! Not my fault she doesn't want to warm up to me." He then let out a heavy sigh. "I'm going to the lab. No one's allowed in." He then got up and stormed off. "Let's give him some time to cool down." Steve suggested. No one cared to argue.

Peter didn't show for the meeting and when Sarah saw him in class he had cuts to go along with the bruises. She wanted to ask about them but he avoided her in the halls and didn't return any of her texts. She wondered if she had done something to make him angry with her but since he wasn't talking to her she had no way of knowing. So she let him have his space and went about her day at school then headed to the ally to train with the team. Only this time Peter wasn't the only one watching her from the shadows. After Sarah and her team had gone through the door and Peter and swung away the figure stepped out and was half tempted to follow after the team through the door. "No. I think I shall wait and see what happens between these mortals and I. That girl, Sarah I believe seems to be in charge of them. She should be easy to win over." He chuckled at the thought of her swooning over him and telling him everything about what lay beyond that door, about Shadows and Personas, and seeing what she knows about this Order that wants her gone. "Now how shall I dress for my meeting with Sarah?" He wondered before disappearing into thin air.

Jade and Zaci had found a strange area of their world that seemed to be twisting into something else. Yosuke suggested going to that area but Zaci shut him up by pointing out that the energy in that area had yet to stable enough for anyone not of that world to survive for more then 12 seconds. So Sarah moved them along to training.

The training was lighter this time around, something they all were grateful for. However as they took down the last Shadow of the group they had been fighting Sarah felt her eyes grow heavy. Shutting them Sarah found herself looking at three cards. Two of them had beasts on them and one kind of looked like a broken window. She saw them flip over and begin spinning in a lazy circle. After a few seconds Sarah reached out with her mind and grabbed a card. The other two disappeared before the card she had grabbed flipped over. The card picked had a bug of some kind of it. It had a grey fuzzy body with two antennas with colourful tips and it's wings where green, yellow, and red with little bits of black here and there. Her mind someone recognized that it was the Persona Mothman. The card vanished from her eyes and Sarah was able to open them. "On to the next?" Yosuke asked. It seemed that, thought to Sarah it had lasted for several minutes her card choosing must've only taken seconds since the others didn't seem bothered by the pause. Either that or they had seen this kind of thing happened to their former team leader Yu. "Yeah. Unless you guys are ready to call it a day." Sarah liked giving them options. It made her feel less bad about being the one to give them orders. "Nah I think we can handle a few more." Kanji assured her. So they went off to look for more Shadows.

Sarah didn't see Tony that night. Seemed he locked himself in his lab and wouldn't even let Bruce in, forcing Bruce to use another lab. It wasn't that he minded having to use a different lab, after all Tony always made sure that the labs had all the same things so if this ever happened Bruce could continue his work. No what bugged Bruce about this was that Tony hadn't even come out for coffee. Hadn't even sent out Dummy, which was something Tony always did whenever he got busy. Steve mentioned this to Sarah as she sat at the island waiting for dinner causing her to remember the owed apology she had meant to give Tony that morning. Promising that nothing would stop her from doing it in the morning (since Tony had to leave the lab for food some time) she took her plate to here room and set about studying.

Tony didn't come out that morning. The lab was still locked and Pepper couldn't override Tony's order for the doors to stay locked. Sarah wondered what had brought this on but Clint assured her that it wasn't the first time Tony had locked himself in and no one saw him for a day. In fact he made it sound like it was a normal event that happened once or twice a month. So with a sigh Sarah left for school. Stopping by the Velvet room to learn about why those cards had appeared before her at the end of that one battle. What Sarah didn't know was that Tony was struggling to stay awake in his lab. He had first been spending hours trying to design some new systems for his Iron man suits but had given up on it as his mind kept dragging him back to Sarah and the things she had said. So he had hacked into her files and gone over every detail multiple times. From her birth, to the suspected cause of her parents' deaths, to her school grades he read it all and memorized every detail. But some dark part of him told him it wouldn't be enough to ease things between them. The two were stuck together until she graduated from high school and moved on with her life. It told him that he had plenty of time after her birth to see her and spend time with her but since he didn't care about other peoples life he had missed the most important things and now he was paying for it. How Sarah was never going to like him. How he could be bleeding to death before her and she'd walk right past him and it was entirely his fault. "No. I can fix this." He kept telling himself. But the more he told himself that the less he believed it; until finally he collapsed into a chair and fell asleep.


	9. What's happened to Tony?

**Something that some how slipped my mind the last three chapters is that all three of them were written with help (A great deal of help that is) from my friend/fan(least I hope they're a fan) SuperNova23. It is through them that the ideas for the last three chapter were born as well as these new three. So mega thanks to SuperNova23 for all their help!**

**Now on with the story!**

* * *

Peter still wouldn't talk to her at school. She tried passing him notes but he just threw them in his bag. Every text she sent he ignored. She was about ready to just slam him into a locker and demand to know what his problem is, but she didn't want to make things worst between them. She spoke to a girl named Gwen and learned where Peter lived, hoping to trap him in his room with little to no choice but to start talking.

Stopping by the girl's bathroom Sarah sighed and splashed a little water on her face. After drying it she took out her phone and called Pepper. "Sarah is everything alright?" Pepper seemed to be under the impression that Sarah would only call during school hours if something was wrong. "I was wondering if Tony left his lab yet?" Pepper said nothing for a couple of minutes, and that worried her. "We were finally able to get into the lab. Tony was sound asleep in one of his chairs." Sarah narrowed her eyes, knowing there had to be more to it then that. "And?" She asked. Pepper let out a sigh. "He's not waking up. No matter what we do." She could hear the fear in Pepper's voice. "He didn't look so good when I saw him yesterday. Could he just be tired and his body shut down to force him to rest?" Sarah asked. "God I hope so." Sarah spent what time she could comforting Pepper before her class started. But when the bell rang she promised to check in as soon as she could. After hanging up Sarah spent the class worrying about what was happening to Tony.

"I'm on my way home right now Pepper. I should be there in half an hour to an hour." Sarah promised as she hurried out of the school. "Alright I'll see you when you get home." Sarah then hung up and turned to head for the bus, only to bump into someone. "Sorry!" Sarah helped to steady the guy before looking him over. "It's fine." He was tall and thin with short brown hair and amazing green eyes. He was dressed in a simple pair of black pants and a green t-shirt. "In a hurry?" He asked. "My godfather has seemingly collapsed and I promised I'd get home to make sure he was ok." She explained. "Oh? Who's your godfather?" Sarah didn't ever hastate. "Tony Stark." For a moment a look of surprise and anger seemed to flicker through his eyes before a smile appeared. "I see. You must care a great deal for him then." Sarah rolled her eyes. "I think he's the biggest jerk to ever live. Oh um, I'm Sarah. Sarah Swizav." She held her hand out to him. "Luke Son." He replied as he shook her hand. "Son? Interesting last name." He chuckled. "I think Swizav beats Son." The two laughed. Sarah glanced at her phone as it rang and saw Pepper had text her saying she was sending a car to her. "Guess I'm sticking around till my ride shows." She said as she tucked her phone away. "So Luke are you new to the city?" His smiled turn into something of a smirk. "No I've been here before. Though that time there was a war going on." Sarah nodded. Having been told about the aliens and the battle from Steve and Thor. "Yeah I heard about that. Luckily it was stopped before it spread to the rest of the world." He nodded lightly. "Indeed. Who knows where thing would've gone had the Avengers not been there." The way he said Avengers, like it was a bad taste in his mouth puzzled her for a moment. "I'm sure even if the Avengers hadn't been there we would've been alright." Luke gave her a funny look. "There are many heroes on Earth that could've just as easily taken care of the attack. Heck most days you can pick a street and see a hero or group of heroes doing battle against someone or thing." Luke nodded in thought. "So you said Stark collapsed?" He asked. Sarah nodded. "He locked himself in his lab yesterday and no one saw him until lunch. He was found passed out in a chair and won't wake up. I swear if it's not one thing in my life it's another." She sighed. "Oh? There are other problems?" Sarah thought about telling him it's nothing but thought that there was no point. After all the only other person she had to tell this to was Pepper and she had enough to worry about with Tony. "My best friend Peter's been giving me the cold shoulder. You know, avoiding me, not returning my text, and refusing to say one word to me. No idea what I did but I'm hoping to trap him in a corner and get the answers out of him." Luke chuckled. "A good plan." A car pulled up next to them and Happy stepped out from the driver side. "That'd be my ride. It was nice talking to you Luke. Maybe I'll see you again some time." Sarah got into the back of the car and waved as it drove off. "Oh you shall see me again. She lives with Stark? This just got more interesting." Luke smirked before vanishing.

Tony had been moved to his room and laid out on his bed. "We can't find anything wrong with him. Jarvis doesn't even detect anything wrong with him." Bruce sighed, clearly frustrated. "Did he eat anything while he was in the lab?" Sarah asked. "According to Jarvis no. But it isn't the first time he's gone a day with out food. But he hasn't been sleeping much since things started going wrong with the Kirijo contract. I think the stress finally got to him." Pepper sighed from her spot in the chair next to his bed. "Have we really tried everything to wake him?" Clint asked, thinking about hitting Tony just to be sure. "Yes Clint. Everything we could think of. He reacts to none of it. I fear he may have fallen into a coma." Bruce said, voicing his concern. Sarah turned away from everyone and leaned on her hand against the dresser. "Sarah. Are you coming?" _That voice sounds like Tony's. But something's wrong with it. Wait a second! Tony's out cold. How could he be speaking to me if he's?_ Sarah lifted her head and found herself staring at a Tony look-a-like with yellow eyes smirking at her. _How? Wait, this is a mirror I'm looking at. So the Shadow's Tony's? But how? Tony is here and I'm clearly seeing him._ Looking closely she could see lines like those one would find inside a computer running along his skin. "Come on Sarah. I've got something I want to show you. You and your friends. The door is waiting." He taunted as the mirror sealed up. "Damn it!" Sarah slammed her hand on the dresser. "Sarah what's wrong?" Turning Sarah found everyone looking at her. "I'm sorry guys. But I have to go. I promise I'll come back." Sarah then ran from the room to her's just long enough to grab her shades and daggers before bolting. "SARAH!" Pepper yelled after her as the elevator's door shut. Taking out her phone Sarah text Naoto, Yosuke, and Kanji two words. Door. Now!

"How can it be Tony Stark's Shadow? He's still in Stark tower." Yosuke asked as they entered the other world. "Shadows form from people's thoughts. Someone like Tony Stark has thousands of people thinking about him at any given time. Maybe for someone like him it doesn't matter if he never sets foot in this world. The Shadow was able to form just from pure thought alone." Naoto suggested. "Well whatever the case Tony Stark's in a coma and his Shadow is taunting us. Are the two connected?" Sarah asked. "Most likely. The appearance of the Shadow Tony in the mirror around the time of Stark falling into a coma is too close to be anything else." Naoto confirmed. "Then we beat the Shadow and Tony will wake up?" Teddie asked. "Only one way to know for sure. We go after the Shadow." Sarah told them. There were nods all around. "Alright then, just follow us! We know where you need to go!" Star, today dressed like a witch cheered before the three fairies flew off.

"Whoa!" Yosuke breathed. The area around them had changed from a plain white world to some kind of high tech cyber world. "Makes sense. Tony Stark is the lead when it comes to technology." Naoto said as she looked to the entrance. Just then a screen flickered to life. "Welcome to the new Stark tower. I'm sure you'll find it much better then the old one. And Sarah. I took great care with your floor. I'm sure you'll like it. Hurry up so I can show you." The Shadow Tony was standing before an elevator grinning at them. "Not interested! Just come down here and let's get this over with." Sarah growled. She wanted Tony to get better and that meant taking down his Shadow. "Won't you take a peek? I worked so hard to make it perfect for you. COME ON! Every kid is going to want your room when they see what I've done. I'm waiting." The screen then shut off. "What was that about? Why'd it care so much about showing her a room?" Kanji asked. "Sarah, do you have your own floor at Stark tower?" Yosuke asked. "No. Everyone lives pretty much on the same floor just in different halls." She explained. "So why'd he say to come up to your floor? Just what does this Shadow want?" Kanji asked. "Only one way to know for sure. Get to that floor." Sarah started for the entrance with the team behind her.

Star let out an sigh. "Why can't we go in too?" She asked. "Because we can't fight Shadows. We'd be in the way and there for end up getting them killed." Zaci reminded her. "Oh yeah." Star sighed. "They will be fine Star. This tower is not that tall and I can still feel them." Jade comforted. "I wish we could do more." Star pouted. "Yeah well" Something white dashed past them into the tower. "What was that!?" Zaci asked. "No idea but it was moving fast." Star had flown close to the now closed doors of the entrance. "What ever it was it wasn't a Shadow or a person from their world. I didn't sense anything from them." Jade was shaken by this. They had no way of knowing if Sarah and them where in great danger and worst yet, no way to tell them about what they had seen.

During the fight up the tower Sarah had gained two more Personas. Sandman and Pixie. Which Sarah was grateful for as Pixie allowed her to heal the team along with Teddie. Now they stood before a door and all of them could feel a great power coming from behind it. "Everyone take a moment to rest. We can't risk going in tired." Sarah ordered. Since entering the tower Sarah had change her attitude to a more commanding one. She wanted to get this done as quickly as possible but knew better then to take risks that weren't needed. "Sarah there is a chance we're not ready for this battle. I know you don't want to hear this but maybe we should head back down and return another day." Naoto suggested carefully. "I have faith in us. Besides we don't know what will happen if we don't beat the Shadow. Yeah Tony's not here but that doesn't mean something can't happen to them. I'd rather not take the risk." "I understand Sarah." Naoto sighed. She knew Sarah was right. There's too much unknown about this world and the way Shadows are forming. "Alright. I'm ready to tackle this Shadow." Yosuke was on his feet flipping his weapons in the air. "This bear is ready to fight." Teddie cheered. Kanji folded up his chair and slung it onto his shoulder. "Give the word Sarah." He smiled to her. Naoto reloaded her gun before nodding to her. "Alright team, let's go."

"I was beginning to think you weren't going to show." Shadow Tony greeted. "Oh my god." Sarah breathed. The room was twisted with wires, screens, and gears. The screens showed everything from data to TV shows to what seemed to be home videos. "This is just the front hall to your floor Sarah. I've spent so much time on it and I'm sure you'll never want to leave." Shadow Tony was grinning like mad at her. "I don't want it." Sarah growled. Shadow Tony's grin faded a little. "Don't want it? Why not? What did I do wrong this time?" He asked, a note of anger to his voice. "Wrong? I never wanted any of this!" Sarah snapped. Shadow Tony's face fell. "But I worked so hard to give this to you. Why can't you just be happy?" He growled. "How can I be happy about something I don't want and hate?" She asked. Shadow Tony was glaring at her. "You never like anything when it comes to me. I can't ever make you smile like the others can. Pepper hates me because I can't make you like me. Everyone hates me because I can't make you happy." He growled. "What's he going on about?" Kanji asked. "I see. Tony Stark must be angry with himself because his relationship with Sarah is failing each time he tries. That must've been the final straw for him that caused his Shadow to appear." Naoto suggested. "What? That's crazy! Tony Stark doesn't care about me! He'd rather not have me as his god daughter." Sarah refused to accept that she was the reason this was happening to Tony. "Lies! I do care. I do and I try to show it. But it never goes right for me. You never notice. Every time I try you refuse to accept it. You get mad and then everyone else gets mad at me. It's all your fault!" Sarah and them backed away as darkness wrapped around Shadow Tony, slowly raising him up to the sky. "It's about to revile it's turn form!" Naoto warned. "Everyone ready yourselves!" Sarah ordered. The darkness disappeared and in Shadow Tony's place stood a large metal monster. It looked almost like Tony's Ironman suit but it was grey where it should've been gold and the red was dripping like blood. Parts of metal seemed infused with flesh and bone. Half the helmet was ripped up allowing them full view of the twisted and scarred face underneath. "You're going to pay for not liking me Sarah." It growled at her. "Normal tactics everyone. Let's find a weakness." Sarah ordered before they charged in.

At Stark tower Pepper was getting really worried. She'd been trying to react Sarah for two hours but the calls never connected and Jarvis couldn't track her phone. "Sarah." Turning Pepper saw Tony struggling a little. "It's ok Tony. I'm sure Sarah's safe." She was more assuring herself then him. Bruce had gone to the kitchen for a tea and would be back any second. Steve and Thor were off trying to find Sarah. Natasha and Clint were checking Tony's lab for anything that could've put Tony in a coma. "Sarah, I'm sorry." He whispered. "Tony." Pepper sighed. "No. Sarah run." This confused Pepper. "Run?" She asked wondering what he was seeing.


	10. The Emperor

_Naoto was right. We weren't ready for this fight._ Sarah and Teddie had run out of energy to use their healing spells, Kanji's electric attacks were absorbed by Shadow Tony, Yosuke was getting knocked down by every other attack, and Naoto was running low on bullets. As a result all five of them were at the end of the line. One more hit to any of them and they'd go down, not getting back up. "Anyone got a plan out of this?" Sarah asked. "Sadly nothing comes to mind." Yosuke sighed. Shadow Tony raised it's fist and threw it at her. _Sorry Tony. Guess I failed you._ There was a flash of white and the sound of metal hitting metal. "Huh?" Looking up Sarah found a blond woman in white standing before her kneeling form. Strange thing about her was that her joints had gaps that revile metal, wires, and gears. It was as if she was a machine. "What!?" Shadow Tony growled. "You shall be eliminated." The blond woman said in an even voice as she pushed back Shadow Tony's fist causing him to slide. She then held her right hand straight out to the side. Sarah watched in shock as her fingertips opened reviling her fingers were hollow. She then held out her right hand, fingers pointed at Shadow Tony and opened fire. "She's got guns for hands!" Yosuke yelled in shock. "Naoto who is she?" Sarah asked. "I don't know. I" Naoto narrowed her eyes at the blond woman before her eyes widen. "Wait that's Aigis!" She cried. "Aigis? As in one of Mitsuru's group?" Sarah asked watching as the blond woman, Aigis fought off Shadow Tony. "Someone please fill me in?" Yosuke asked. "Show you the files later." Naoto sighed. "Whoever she is she's clearly a machine." Kanji pointed out. To their surprise Aigis, who was clearly a robot of some kind summoned a Persona. "Palladion!" Her Persona appeared to be humanoid but then its head opened up and a large spike popped out. "A Persona from a machine? Now I've seen everything." Yosuke sighed.

Aigis had beaten Shadow Tony. But not without doing heavy damage to herself. Sarah and the team gathered round her to see what they could do. But the damage done to her was too great for them to try to repair her there. "Hey! He's still there." Yosuke pointed behind Sarah to Shadow Tony. Who was standing silently near them. "But why?" Sarah asked. "Sarah Tony's Shadow appeared partly because of the stress between the two of you. Maybe if you clear the air between you and him he'll disappear and Tony will wake up." Naoto suggested. Sarah gave her a small nod then stood and made her way over to him. She didn't know what to say. Letting out a sigh she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't hate you. I just don't understand you. Nothing seems to bug you and yet you push peoples buttons like you want them to get mad at you. Truth be told Tony I do want to get along with you. I worry about you when you look like the stress is getting to you. I wanted to say sorry to you for how I yelled at you but you were locked in your lab. You can be pushy and you say the wrong things more often then not but you are all I have. Yeah Pepper, Steve, Bruce, Thor, Clint, and Natasha are there too. But you're my godfather. And that in part makes us family. So if you still want me how bout we start over?" Shadow Tony gave a friendly smile and nodded before disappearing. Sarah felt a little better for saying all that. But she knew she had to say it, or at least the important bits to Tony. "Sarah!" Turning Sarah returned to the team and Aigis. "She's in bad shape. We need to get her help." Sarah agreed with Naoto. "Alright Kanji can you carry her?" Kanji nodded and picked her up as best he could with out damaging Aigis further. "Let's get back down to our friends and get her out of here." "But where can we take her to be fixed?" Yosuke asked. "Tony's the only person I can think of who'd be able to repair her. I just hope he's awake." Was Sarah's answer before she turned and leaded the way to the stairs.

Pepper had given up on worrying and begun praying for both Tony and Sarah. "Pep?" Opening her eyes Pepper gasped in shock as she found Tony looking at her. "Tony! Are you alright?" She asked as she helped him sit up. "I don't know. It's kind of blurry but I think Sarah and I made up." He told her. "What? But Sarah took off hours ago. She was really upset by what happened to you." Tony nodded. "Yeah. I think I know what to do now. Where's my phone?" Pepper quickly handed it to him. Tony had Sarah's number but he figured with her being mad at him he'd never have need of it. "My calls haven't been connecting. I hope she's alright." Pepper was relieved to have Tony back, but Sarah's location was still unknown to her. Clicking her number Tony listened as it dialled. "Hello?" It was Sarah. "Hey Sarah. Where are you?" Tony asked. "Tony! Thank god you're all right. Listen Tony, about what I said that night" Tony cut her off. "I know kiddo. I should've eased you into being around me. Start over?" He asked. "Yeah. Start over." She agreed. "Sarah Aigis won't last too long with out repairs." A voice called. "Tony can you get to your lab?" Sarah asked. "Yeah I can, why?" He asked. "I'm bringing in a machine in need of repairs and you're the only one I can think of that can repair her. She's in really bad shape." Tony nodded in thought. "Alright. Bring it in and Bruce and I will do everything we can." He promised. "On our way." With that Sarah hung up. "Tony what's going on?" Pepper asked. "Sarah's on her way back with some kind of machine in need of repairs. Jarvis get Bruce and tell him to meet me in the lab." Tony called as he threw off the covers and got out of bed.

"Ok Tony and Bruce will be waiting for us. Kanji you'll come with me. Naoto you better check in with the police department so you don't get another tail. Yosuke and Teddie go home and rest up." Sarah ordered. "Hold it right there." Ordered a female voice. Turning Sarah couldn't find it in her to be surprised at the site of Mitsuru and Akihiko standing in the opening of the ally. "Aigis!" Shouted Akihiko as he and Mitsuru ran over to them. "I thought she'd gone with Labrys." Mitsuru mumbled to herself. "We can ask her once she's repaired." Akihiko tried to take her from Kanji but he held her closer to him and backed away. "Sorry. Our leader has already given her orders regarded Aigis." Kanji's tone was the kind that left little room to argue. "Leader?" Mitsuru looked to Naoto but she shook her head. "Not me. I believe you know Sarah already." That made the two look to Sarah. "We can talk about this later. Tony is preparing the lab as we speak to repair Aigis. If we don't get here there soon she may end up as scrap metal. You two want to tag along then fine. But you aren't stopping us from taking her." Sarah was using the same commanding tone she had used in the other world. With a sigh Mitsuru nodded. "Alright then Sarah. We'll do this your way. Akihiko can carry her to Stark tower allowing your friend here to go home and rest." Sarah looked to Kanji and shook her head. "No. I know and trust Kanji. He'll carry Aigis." Mitsuru was left with no choice but to give in. "Fine. Lead the way." As the group left the ally the young man Sarah knew as Luke was watching them. "Now what happened here? Five of them look like they just returned from battle and one carries a broken machine. And little Sarah, a leader? I thought nothing could surprise me." He laughed.

Sarah didn't waste any time once they were in the tower. She took Kanji right to Tony's lab. "Just set it down here." Tony instructed as he waved to the table in front of him. Kanji carefully set her down and backed off allowing the two men to examine her. "Wow. This is some piece of work." Tony whistled. "And she belongs to the Kirijo Company." Mitsuru warned as she entered the lab. Sarah glared at her. "Doesn't matter who made her or who she belongs to. What matters is fixing Aigis. Can you repair her?" She asked Tony. Taking a look at the screens he nodded. "Will take some time but I see no reason why we wouldn't be able to. Sarah take them to the living room. Jarvis make sure there's lots of coffee. We're going to be at this a while." Sarah did as Tony ordered. Forcing Mitsuru to leave the lab. "Things seem different between you and Sarah. How'd you manage that?" Bruce asked. "I'm not sure. Before I passed out she was at my throat. But somehow after I woke up it was like we'd made up with out speaking or seeing each other. I think we fought again, in some kind of room. I don't know. Maybe I dreamt the whole thing." Tony shrugged and set to work salvaging what could be salvaged.

"So you lied to me. You did know about Personas." Mitsuru said as she sat with Sarah and Akihiko. "When you were in my place did you go around telling everyone about Personas?" Sarah asked her. Mitsuru smiled at her. "No, you're right. I shouldn't be upset that you lied. After all no one out side of those with Personas are allowed to know about them or Shadows." Akihiko nodded in agreement with Mitsuru. "So why did Aigis follow me into the other world?" Sarah asked. "No idea. After getting her sister back Aigis disappeared. We had no idea where she was until we found you and your team with her." Akihiko let out a sigh. "We'll have to hope that Aigis' memory isn't damaged when she's fixed. Other wise we may never know." He pointed out. Sarah sighed. "Sarah I noticed you and your team were hurt. Do you not have anyone capable of healing on your team?" Mitsuru asked. Sarah blushed in embarrassment and hung her head in shame. "When we learned the Shadow was of Tony I allowed my worry get the better of me. I pushed them into going into battle against the Shadow before we were ready and as a result Teddie and I ran out of power to heal everyone. It was a mistake that would've cost us our lives had Aigis not been there." Akihiko threw Mitsuru a look. "Sarah have you ever been in charge of a team before?" Mitsuru asked. "Not before coming into my Persona. But I have been training with them." Mitsuru nodded. "You can't blame yourself for pushing too hard. Even though you put your team at risk all of you survived the battle. In the end as long as everyone survives that's all that matters. Just be careful Sarah. Keep you team happy and together. You shouldn't have a problem as long as you do that." Sarah was grateful for Mitsuru's advice. "Thanks. Do you two still use Personas?" They both nodded. "Do you think you'd be willing to fight along side us?" The two looked between each other in thought. "It might help." Akihiko suggested. Mitsuru nodded. "Alright Sarah. We'll do our best to help you as often as we can." She promised. "Thank you." Sarah was glad to have more people on her side. And once Aigis was repaired she could join as well, if that was what she wanted.

Sarah groaned as she watched Peter hurry out of the classroom. School had ended and like all the other times he had run off with out giving her a chance to talk to him. So pulling out the slip of paper she headed for the street. _If Peter's not going to talk willingly then I guess he's left me no other option._

Peter's aunt was more then happy to let her in and when Sarah explained why she was there she was told what room was Peter's and sent up. Which was why she was now standing in his door way with him struggling to form words. "Sarah? What are you doing in my room?" He finally got around to asking. "Well since you refuse to give me the time of day anymore I figured my only option was to give you no choice in the matter." Sarah was trying not to snap at him. She had just fixed things with Tony; she didn't need to have go through the same with Peter. "Sarah please leave." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Not until I know why you suddenly don't want anything to do with me. I text you, you don't text back. I try talking to you in school, you take off. Why? Why don't you want to be around me any more?" Peter let out a heavy sigh and shut the bedroom door. "Sarah there's no point in my having any involvement with the other world. I'm not like you. I can't use a Persona so I'm useless. Figured I was doing you a favour by stepping back and letting you fight those battles with out someone like me to worry about." He answered as he dropped into his chair. "That's what this is about? Feeling useless because you aren't a Persona user? Peter come on!" Sarah took a seat on his bed. "You were the first friend I made. If it weren't for you I never would've found the door and learned of this power. I own it to you." Peter nodded in understanding. "Yeah I guess. But" Sarah cut him off. "But nothing! Peter I don't care if you can't use a Persona. You're still my friend. And having you act like this worries me. It doesn't matter to me what you can and can't do. You are the one person out side all that chaos that I can talk to about this. The one person who at the end of the day will listen as I explain what happened and tell me where I could improve or point out things I didn't notice at the time. The one person who makes me feel like I have a normal life. I need you Peter." Peter turned away from her; but she caught the thoughtful look on his face. With a sigh he turned back around. "Well then you better fill me in on what I've been missing." He smiled. "Oh you missed a lot." Sarah laughed before telling Peter everything.

The next team meeting was held in a conference room that Mitsuru had paid for. After explaining Peter to Mitsuru and Akihiko they all went over what they knew so far. "So the mirrors act like the Midnight Channel and Shadows are able to form with out people entering the other world. But why?" Naoto asked herself. "Well the heroes are very strong and very well known. Since Shadows are made by the thoughts of people it does make sense for them to form from those people think about the most." Peter offered. "Odd. The story of what happened in Inaba as well as here in New York is far different then what took place for us." Akihiko voiced. "Perhaps the Shadows change with each time. Like how the dungeons they appear in both in the TV world and in Tartarus change when you leave." Sarah suggested. "Sound possible. However we don't know enough to know for sure." Mitsuru sighed. "Well what we do know is that we have to watch the mirrors around us. No one else seems to notice when the mirror changes to show a Shadow, so we have to watch how we react to it." Sarah pointed out. Everyone agreed with that. "Ok then. Sarah we'll inform us what days we train. I suggest when the mirrors start showing Shadows we double training days. Is that alright with you Sarah?" "Yeah Mitsuru. Sounds like a good plan for now." Sarah agreed. "There is something about this that bugs me." Everyone turned to Peter. "Jade and the others claimed that when the light gathers in a circle the Shadow all move towards something that appears in the other world. What do you think that mean?" He asked them. "Good question. Also what about the two dead bodies found near the ally the door appears in? Did they stumble into the other world or were they forced in?" Naoto asked. "At this time we lack details. Let's take it easy, one day at a time and see what turns up." Sarah suggested. Everyone could agreed to it. "Alright then. If there's nothing else I say this meeting is over."

"Hey kiddo." Tony greeted as Sarah entered the kitchen. "Hi Tony. How's Aigis' repairs going?" She asked as she got herself a cup to make some tea. "Alright but we are struggling a little. Never seen anything like her before." Tony poured himself a coffee and set up the kettle for her. "Thanks." She set her cup down and looked at the teas available to her. "Sarah. You and your friends are doing something the rest of us won't like. Aren't you?" Sarah had just been adding sugar to her cup when he asked that. She turned to him with a look that said I-want-to-tell-you-but-I-can't-let-you-stop-me. He waved a hand dismissively. "It's ok kiddo. I get that sometimes you have to do things that people don't like or want you doing. Just, make sure you guys come back alive alright? Do that, and I won't say a word." Sarah smiled at him. "I promise Tony. We'll come home just as alive as we left it." Tony chuckled. "Sorry kiddo but that's a lie." She frowned at that, not getting what he meant. "After all last time you looked about ready to drop dead when you got back." He teased. "Oh shut up!" She laughed. "You really don't know what we're doing though?" Sarah had to know for sure. "I know I saw some of what you did to help me but the more time passes the less I seem to remember." When the kettle whistled Tony poured the water into Sarah's cup. "For the best I guess. After all I don't want you to worry about me." "Now who said I was worried?" Sarah shook her head at him. "You know, either I've gone crazy or you really are a nice guy." It had taken a long time but Sarah felt like she was beginning to understand Tony Stark just a little bit. Everything came to a sudden stop around her and a card appeared before Tony. _This is just like with Pepper._ The card flipped reviling it to be the Emperor. Sarah almost wanted to laugh. _Pepper's the Empress and Tony's the Emperor. They clearly belong together._ The card faded and time started moving again. "How are things between you and Peter was it?" He asked. "They're great again. I cornered him in his house and got him to explain the problem and we were able to fix things." Tony nodded. "Good to hear. I better get back to Aigis. You most likely want her back in working order." He turned to leave but Sarah stopped him. "She could use an upgrade. From what I understand she hasn't had one in years so if you want to." Sarah trailed off, letting him fill in the rest. "I can think of a few things she might be in need of if she's going to be joining you and your friends in whatever adventures you guys are up to." Tony agreed. "Thanks Tony."


	11. Loki's information

"So Aigis is getting upgraded by Tony?" Akihiko asked after asking Sarah for an update on Aigis. "Yeah. I figured if she's going to be apart of the group she might as well be upgrade so that what happened against Shadow Tony doesn't happen again." Akihiko nodded in agreement. "It's a good idea. After hearing from Naoto how the Shadow acted when she was fighting them the first time it doesn't sound like too much has changed but no one can be sure until we fight them ourselves." The two were walking the streets after bumping into each other during lunch. "Naoto seemed to think she was getting soft after her first battle after Peter and I first stumbled into that world." The two were silent for a few minutes as they stood waiting for a red light to change. "Sarah during the time Minako lead us we noticed she would often disappear for some time and later when we would go train she would have new Personas. And from what I've heard from Yosuke their leader Yu sometimes did the same. It bugs me that they both did the same things but they never told anyone where they went or what they did to get these other Personas. Please Sarah, tell me if you know." Sarah looked anywhere but at Akihiko. "Did Minako every mentioned a door? A door you couldn't see?" Akihiko thought on this before nodding. "Yeah. Her first time in Tartarus. She walked past the stairs that lead up to the next floor and asked about a door next to them. None of us could see it and she seemed space out for a while. It scared all of us but she swore she was fine. What does this have to do with anything?" He asked. "There's this place. Called the Velvet room. In order to see the door you have to be a guest of it. My guess is that both Minako and Yu were guests of that room, just like me." Sarah wasn't sure if this was allowed, but no one had told her she couldn't tell anyone. "Can you show me it?" Sarah took out her key and held it up to him. "What are you doing?" He asked. "The key to the Velvet room is in my hand. You can't see it. So I doubt I could take you to the room. Sorry." Akihiko shook his head. "I guess I should've known better. If I couldn't see it before why should I expect to see it now." He shrugged. "Hey how are things going with the contract between Mitsuru and Tony?" Sarah had noticed over the last few days that Tony doesn't seem as stressed as he had before Shadow Tony. "From what she's told me the new contract is by far better and agreeable then the last one. I believe those two are soon to be partners." Sarah was relieved to hear that. She didn't want to see Tony in that sad state again. "Thanks Akihiko. I'm glad to know that things are going well."

Sarah had been studying in her room when Steve had stuck his head in to tell her that the team needed to leave to deal with some problem on the other side of the city. She wished them luck then went back to studying for the test she had just learned was to be held the up coming Friday. "Oh man. How am I going to remember all this?" She asked herself. "Forgive the intrusion but there is a Luke Son to see you." Jarvis informed her. "Ah. I'll be right down." Setting down her pen Sarah took a moment to crack her back before heading for the elevator.

"This is a surprise." Sarah said as she greeted Luke. "Well it's been a while since I last saw you so I thought I'd come and make sure nothing had happened to you." Was his reply as he smiled at her. "Wanna come up? I've got the tower to myself right now." At that Luke's smile grew into a grin. "I would love to."

"So what were you doing before I arrived?" Luke asked as he looked around her room. "Studying. There's a test coming up at school and I want to be ready for it." This seemed to please him. "You study often?" Sarah shrugged. "As often as I can while still leaving time for things like spending time with my friends and those here in the tower." Sarah then let out a sigh. "Jarvis you've told Tony about Luke haven't you?" She asked. "Yes I have." Jarvis answered. "I am never going to hear the end of it." She chuckled. "Trouble?" Luke asked. "No. Tony and I are on better terms lately. Now we tease each other. And this just gave him ammo for his side of the battle." She joked. "And how goes it with your other friend?" Luke asked. "Peter and I are back to talking again. You know I know nothing about you yet you seem to want to learn more about me. Why?" Luke took a seat on her bed before answering. "Well Sarah I guess that's because you are far more interesting then myself. After all you live with heroes, attend school, make friends that talk to you one moment and give you the silent treatment the next, and here you are studying when most of your classmates are most likely off fooling about and wasting their time." Sarah looked him over before smiling. "Maybe that is true about me. But I can tell you were lying when you say I'm more interesting then you. Something tells me you are the more interesting one in this room. But why hide it." Luke was staring at Sarah with a slightly surprised look. "What makes you think you know me so well?" He asked. "Let's call it a gift. I can read some people better then others. And you are a very interesting read. So who are you Luke? You can trust me to keep your secrets." Luke laughed at that. "Oh I know Sarah. Like your trips to the other world you can hide my secrets." Hearing that made Sarah tense. "You know about the other world? What else do you know about Luke?" She asked. "Not as much as I like. I heard of Shadows and Personas but don't know what they are. I also heard of an Order that wants you gone. You and your group of warriors." Sarah raised a brow. "Order? What Order?" She asked. "I only know what I overheard from the two gathered in the ally in which the door appears in. A woman with blonde curls and a man with red and black hair. The man clearly hates this Order he is working for and is only doing so to use them to his advantage. But the woman sees you as little threat. But she does want you dead as does her Order." Sarah was surprise. For such little information Luke had told her more then he thought. "This proves that someone else was in the other world then. As for this Order, I shall have to ask Naoto and the others if they have any ideas what this means." Luke was grinning. "Sounds like you have everything figured out. Care to share?" He asked. "You first Luke. Who are you? Cause I'm sure you are not Luke Son." Either the question amused him or it was the way Sarah had worded it. "I guess this once I can allow a fair trade between us Sarah. However you must understand that I insist that you keep this from the oaf Thor and the others. Is that understood?" It was Sarah's turn to smirk. "Whatever you say, Loki." The shock on his face made it worth the sudden attack.

Sarah let out a faint moan as the sounds of the city filled her ears sitting up Sarah took note of two important facts. First being she was outside, on a rooftop far from the tower, which was looking very small from where she sat. Second it was late, the sky was dark and judging by the sounds around her she was guessing after 8. "I didn't give you enough credit Sarah." Turning she found herself looking at Loki in his true form. "How did you guess it was me?" He asked. "Besides the fact that my computer is tapped into Jarvis and there for monitoring everything that goes on in the tower, and how Jarvis lost the feed to my room shortly before you started talking to my about my secrets? There's only one person who, upon hearing the Avengers would become angry yet be able to regain their composer with in the span of a minute who also refers to Thor as an oaf. And that is the fallen god Loki." For a moment Sarah was sure she was in for another attack for calling him a fallen god. But then he smiled. "Maybe this is why they fear you. This Order. So far you managed to surprise me and that is no ease feat. But I doubt this is fully why they want you gone. The so called Wild card." He stopped for a moment to gaze towards the tower. "You wanted to get answers from me while I did the same of you. Fine. Answers for answers it is. You already have your first answer so I shall have mine now. What is this Personas those Order members spoke of?" Moving to the edge of the roof Sarah began explaining things to him.

"Oh you are playing with something deadly Sarah. One of the former Wild cards died you said? And yet you clearly do not fear for your life. I don't know weather to admire your bravery or question you sanity." It was clearly a tease. "Oh haven't you heard. It's been proven we're all insane. We just don't talk about our own insanity." Loki laughed at that. "Were there any more questions you wanted to ask?" Loki shook his head. "I believe you have explained everything nicely to me." He then took on a serious look. "You said Stark's Shadow appeared in the other world because of his stress? Stress with work and with you?" Sarah smiled at him. "For someone who got all his answers you still ask two questions? In answer to them both yes. It seem that with enough thought a Shadow can form with out the person it comes from entering the other world." With a nod Loki stood. "Well thank you for those interesting answer Sarah. They proved more intriguing then I thought they would. Now I would suggest getting back to the tower. See as you've been gone for five hours." With a smirk Loki disappeared. "Personas, Shadows, this Order, and now a Norse god. Peter, I envy you right now. You and your normal life." Sarah made her way to the door to the stairwell. Growling as she turned the handle and it didn't open. "Loki." So there was little choice but to use the fire escape.

"Sarah where were you?" Pepper asked as she hugged said person. "I was on a roof, some where down the street. Don't ask, last thing I remember was Luke leaving. Think that was after I noticed something was up with Jarvis. I didn't react as I didn't want Luke to panic." Sarah lied. "Well at least you're alright kiddo. You really don't remember anyone grabbing you or something?" Tony asked. Shaking her head Sarah let out a sigh. "Not a thing. Sorry guys." They accepted the lie and Pepper quickly fixed Sarah dinner.

"An Order?" Naoto asked as the team (Peter included) gathered at Sarah's request. "That's what I learned from him." Sarah confirmed. "But can we trust this information? I mean he is the god of lies." Kanji pointed out. "Yeah, and let's not forget the attack on the city with those aliens was his doing." Yosuke added. "Call me crazy if you wish but I believe him. He saw those two people just like I saw that figure who made the Shadows that attacked Peter and I during our first visit to the other world." Sarah argued. "Back during our time in high school there was a group of Persona users that stood against us. They called themselves Strega. There were three of them. One of them fell in love with one of our own and saved him from being shot by another member of Strega. She lived thanks to her power but lost all her memories." Mitsuru explained. "Junpei was able to get her to fall in love with him again, but it took a lot of time." Akihiko added. "So it's not a crazy theory that there could be another group wanting to under mind us?" Naoto asked. "No. In fact I'm not the least bit surprised by this new knowledge. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened again. Lucky Sarah has all of us at her disposal should it come down to a stand off against us and them." Mitsuru's words were meet with nods. "I'm glad to know you guys will be there when that happens. But there's another matter I wish to speak to you about. Something else Loki over heard." The silence that reached her ears told her she had their attention. "Loki heard the woman speak of something she called strain with age. She pretty much hinted that as a Persona user gets older they begin to feel the effects of using their Persona. I know Aigis is alright because she's a machine and should something be wrong with her it can be fixed. But what about the rest of you?" The team looked at each other in question. "Well Akihiko and myself saw a doctor before our trip to this city and we were given clean bills of health." Mitsuru answered. "I have an appointment in a few days so I'll have to get back to you on that." Was Naoto's. "I'll book an appointment after this meeting." Kanji. "I'll take Teddie in with me and get us checked out." Yosuke. Sarah let out a sigh. "By a doctor who knows about Personas and Shadows?" Only Mitsuru and Akihiko could answer yes to that. "If you want Sarah I can have one of the personal doctors from my company flown in to run the tests on everyone." "Do it Mitsuru. And make sure to get yourself and Akihiko tested as well. Between the time you left and the time all this began who knows what could've changed in your results." Peter, noticing the heavy air in the room stood up. "Well as much as this needs to be dealt with there doesn't seem to be much anyone can do till the doctor shows up. So, since Sarah and I have just about enough time to pull off sliding into class just as the bell rings I think we should end the meeting here." Everyone agreed with him and filed out of the room.

At lunch Sarah noticed a teacher putting up a forum. "Sports clubs?" Looking over the choices Sarah noticed the clubs wouldn't be starting till the beginning of next week. "Soccer or Track? Hm? Track would help to build up endurance for when I'm in the other world. But soccer is a team sport and might help to improve my ability to work with the team. I shall have to give this a lot of thought." Sarah quickly made a note on her cell to look over later at the tower. "Sarah come on!" Turning Sarah smiled at Peter who was waiting by the doors for her to join him. "Coming!" _I'll worry about this later. Lunch is important right now._ The sudden growling from her stomach proved her right.

"What are you looking at Sarah?" Bruce asked as he walked past her to the kettle. "Next week the sports teams are taking in new members. The only two I feel right for me are the girls' soccer team or the girls' track team. Both are good and will help me in the long run but I'm just not sure which is the better choice." Bruce nodded. "I can see where that would be a hard call. Are you good at working with others or do you prefer to be on your own?" Sarah sighed. "That's the trouble Bruce. I do work well with others as well as on my own. I don't mind doing the solo thing from time to time. I just wish I had some help figuring out which team is the better fit." Bruce sighed. "Well you do have the rest of the week to figure it out Sarah. Give it some time. And when in doubt, as someone. Someone other then me. I was never a sports person." Sarah nodded and closed her laptop. "Kay Bruce. Thanks for trying though." She then turned and headed for her room. _Soccer or Track. That is the question._


	12. Magician, spy training and pervy god

"Peter! Soccer or Track?" Sarah asked him as she caught up to him in the hall at school. "Um what?" He asked back. Sarah let out a small giggle. "I'm going to join a sports team but I'm not sure which one. I've narrowed it down to two. Soccer or track. Which do you think would be best for me?" Peter narrowed his eyes in thought for a minute. "Soccer. I'd say soccer." Sarah nodded and made a mental note. "Can you really afford to join a sports team though? Given what we have going on already in the other world?" Peter lowered his voice so no one else would over hear them. "It's not like I plan to become the star team member Peter. It's just something to help improve my skills and help to give me an edge when dealing with other things." Peter nodded in understanding. Sarah shivered suddenly as she felt someone glaring at her. Looking around though Sarah couldn't pin point the glarer. "What's wrong?" Peter asked. "Don't know. Hopefully nothing. Come on, let's get to class." The two walked in silence till they were at the door to their homeroom. "Sarah do you wanna come over?" Peter asked suddenly. "This is sudden. Sure." Peter let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head. "My aunt likes you and has been asking why you haven't come over again. She thinks we're fighting." Sarah nodded in understanding. "I'll text Tony after school and let him know I'm going to your place." Sarah promised. "Wow. Things must really have changed between you two if you're texting him where you are instead of Pepper." Sarah chuckled at that. "Yeah. Crazy isn't it?" She asked as the entered the classroom and took their seats.

After completing their homework Sarah and Peter watched a couple vids on his computer as well as show each other a few site they liked. "Hey Peter, I'm glad I met you." Everything that had happened to Sarah was more or less because of Peter. And she truly was happy for all of it. "You know I thought about not speaking to you that day. Saw a few other places I could've sat to eat. But for some reason I just couldn't help but walk over to you. Turn out to be the best thing I ever did." Sarah nodded in agreement. "I might not be able to help in the fights but I promise I'll be there to help with everything else." Time froze; startling Sarah before she spotted a familiar card appeared before Peter. _A new Link? What one is Peter?_ The card flip and Sarah just had to tilt her head a little to the side. _Magician? Peter's the Magician?_ The card faded and time began flowing again. "Sarah, why are you looking at me like that?" Peter asked. Shaking her head Sarah went to play it off before spotting something on the floor. Picking it up she noticed it was a small metal casing. "Peter what's this?" She looked from the casing to him and noticed a slightly panicked look on his face. "Um that? That's just a piece from some of project I did. Yeah it's garbage now." Peter grabbed it and chucked it in his trash bin. Sarah had noticed writing on it and promised herself she'd look it up later. "Peter? Sarah? Would you like some cookies?" Peter's aunt called from down stairs. "Come on. You're going love her cookies." Peter pulled Sarah to her feet and the two left his room.

"Welcome back Sarah." Natasha greeted as Sarah got off the elevator. "Hi." Sarah greeted back before heading for her room. Once in side Sarah removed the metal casing she had taken from Peter's trash. She knew it was wrong of her to do it but the way Peter had reacted to it worried her. "Jarvis do you know what this is?" She held it up for him to see. "Not a the moment. Would you like me to run a search?" Sarah said yes and that she would get the result off him later. Though she had her homework done she wanted to ask around the tower to see what team everyone thought she should join.

The team had spoken. Tony, Natasha, and Thor (after being told what the teams were for) felt that Sarah would be best fitted for soccer, but Clint, Steve, and Pepper thought that Track would be good for her. Bruce should've been the tiebreaker but since he didn't care much for sports he refused to comment on the matter. So Sarah was still stuck on the matter of sports. _Dead even. Wait if I count Peter's vote that makes it 4 for soccer and 3 for track. Well I still have some time. After all the teams don't meet till Monday so I can think on it a little more._ "Problems Sarah?" Turning Sarah found Loki leaning against her bedroom door. "You do realize Thor and them are just down the hall?" She asked him. He chuckled. "Even if they learned I was in Stark's tower they would never reach me before I left. Now tell me, what bothers you?" Sarah figured there was no harm in asking him. "My school's sports teams are letting in new members. I figure joining a team might help me gain an edge in the other world. I've narrowed my choices down to soccer and track. Which do you think I should join?" Loki looked thoughtful for a moment. "Track. In battle sometimes the quickest is the one to come out the victor." Sarah nodded at that. "True enough. Track also builds stamina. So what brought you here today Loki? Just checking in or is there something else on your mind?" Loki chuckled. "There is always something on my mind. But to answer your question I thought I'd see how you were fairing. After all when we last met you had befriend the man of iron, regain your friendship with Peter, and had gain a little knowledge about your enemies." Sarah ran over everything that'd happened since then. "Well I informed my team about what you told me and they have shown concern regarding this Order. I also informed them about the strain the female Order member spoke of to them. Mitsuru is having a doctor who knows about Personas and Shadows brought in to run tests on the team to see if it holds any truth for us. Until that is done I have ordered the team to rest. I need to be sure they will be alright if we are to continue battling Shadows. Come to think about it there are some other things we haven't yet found any answers for nor have we spoken about it." "And that would be?" Loki was clearly interested in this. "The three fairies that we met in that world spoke about the light in that world gathering in a circle in the sky. We have yet to see this happen when we are there. This event though has happened twice before when two people appeared to have found a way into that world. Does this happen when people with out Personas enter that world? If so why then did it not happen when Peter and I were there the first time? I hadn't yet unlocked Black Frost then and yet the light was all around us." He nodded, clearly wondering about that now. "Perhaps there are other conditions that must be met before that happens." He suggested. "Maybe. For now we are learning as we go along. Can I count on you to let me know if you hear more about the Order?" Loki smirked at Sarah with a raised brow. "You would trust me to be honest with you on such an important matter?" He asked. "Yes. Is that going to be a problem for you?" Sarah almost found herself swooning at the way his eyes lit up. "You are a strange one Sarah. Trusting the god of lies the way you do. But since I am interested in seeing where this adventure of your's lead I shall help. But do not expect me to do much. I don't mind giving you information that I hear but I shall do nothing more then that." He warned. Sarah nodded in understanding. "Farewell then, for now." Loki was then gone. And not a moment too soon for Tony entered the room and looked around. "Something the matter?" Sarah asked him. "Jarvis lost the feed for your room again. Just making sure you hadn't gone on another adventure with us knowing it." Sarah had to bite her tongue to stop from laughing at that. "I'm fine Tony. Don't know why the feed keeps cutting out but there doesn't seem to be anything wrong on my end." He nodded and left. _So Loki cuts the feed while he's around. But then why didn't Tony come sooner? Does Loki delay Jarvis reporting the lost feed until he can be sure when he is leaving? Something to see about asking the next time I see him._

It was three days after Loki's last visit that Mitsuru called Sarah to inform her the doctor had arrived. Sarah agreed to join in the exams to insure that all of them were in the best of health. Peter also had himself tested since he had been to that world at least once.

"Sarah as our leader you can look over the results yourself." Mitsuru informed said person during the meeting that took place after the tests. "How does everyone feel about that? Do any of you not want me to look at your's?" Sarah asked them. No one voiced any problems so Sarah agreed to look over the result. Though some of the results would take a few days. "Well that's one thing out of the way." Yosuke sighed. "Have you heard anything more about the Order from Loki?" Akihiko asked Sarah. "No. He has learned of nothing more just yet but has agreed to pay attention for such information." It was clear some of them still weren't on board with trusting the god of lies with something as important as this, but they didn't question her on it. "Tony has informed me that Aigis should be up and running in a few days." Akihiko and Mitsuru seemed relieved to hear that. "Naoto have you heard back from Yu yet?" The week he was supposed to come to the city had come and gone and he had yet to show up. "He fell ill. But his last message said that he should be well enough to come in a few days." She reported. "Not like him to come down with something like that. Guess Partner's gotten lazy." Yosuke joked. Naoto rolled her eyes at him. "Mitsuru have you and Akihiko gotten in touch with any of your former team mates?" Sarah asked the two at the head of the table. "It's been hard since they've spread out so far. So far only Ken has returned my call. He said he would come as soon as he has the time, but between school and his part time job I doubt he'll be able to join us." Mitsuru reported. "Alright then. For now we stick with the team we have." Everyone nodded in understanding. "Now then we should talk about some of the unanswered questions involving the other world and the Shadows. First question I would like to bring up is in regards to what the three fairies told me, Peter, and Naoto during our first visit there." At the confused looked on Naoto and Peter's faces Sarah continued. "They claimed that twice now the light in that world had gathered up in the sky in a circle. During both of those times it seems that someone had entered that world. They were most likely the murder victims that turned up dead not far from where the door appears. So far this event hasn't happened since the three of us entered that world. What caused it to happen in the first place?" Sarah asked.

They spent hours bouncing off theories and questions but hardly any possible answers came from it. Just more questions. So with headaches all around Sarah let out a heavy sigh and dismissed the meeting and went home. "Sarah the information on the casing you found is still awaiting for you to read it over." Jarvis reminded her as she dropped onto her bed. With a sigh Sarah got up, grabbed her laptop, and plopped back onto the bed. "Ok, let's have it." She sighed before watching the screen fill with information. Looking over the pages Sarah noticed that the casing had come from Oscorp. She thought nothing on this until she saw what the casing was for. The casing was design to hold Oscorp's cable, which (thanks to Jarvis hacking Oscorp's systems) seems to be made using modified spider silk. "Why would Peter have something like that?" Sarah asked herself. It just didn't seem to fit. She couldn't think of one good reason why Peter would want something so strong or why he would hide it from her. She read over all the details on the cable and it's uses before shutting off the laptop. "It doesn't add up. Why hide something like that from me? And why was he so freaked when I found it?" Turning to her side Sarah spaced out for a few minutes before her eyes fell on her daggers. She was restless but until the test came back she didn't want to risk hurting her team by suggesting training in the other world. "Doubt the guys would mind if I used the training room." She reasoned before getting up, grabbing the daggers and heading to said place.

Natasha and Clint were sparing in the room when Sarah arrive. She turned to leave, figuring she'd hit the gym instead when Clint called out to her. "Where you going with those?" His eyes were focused on the daggers around Sarah's hips. "I was bored and thought since I have these why not train with them. But you two are busy training in here so I'll just come back later." Sarah explained. "If you want to learn to fight maybe we could help with that." Natasha offered. This got Sarah's interest. The two were the best spies out there and they were willing to train her. _This could prove useful in the near future._ Turn Sarah smiled. "Are you sure? I don't want to bug you or anything?" Not wanting to appear to eager for the training Sarah slowly made her way towards them. "We wouldn't be offering if you were going to bug us." Clint assured her. Natasha took one of Sarah's daggers and looked it over. "This blade looks pretty sharp Sarah. And a little worn. Have you been practicing on your own?" She asked with a raised brow. "I couldn't help it. You guys were out and I had nothing to do so I grabbed them and tried my luck." She lied. "Clint set up a target." Natasha ordered. "Let's see how well you use these." She then handed the dagger back to Sarah. _Have to play down my skills or else risk them questioning me. This might not be such a great idea after all._

Sarah had done well in playing amateur for a while. Till they tested her reflexes. One dummy came at her from the side and Sarah reacted immediately by slicing it in half with one strike. The two had shared a look that worried Sarah but they continued on with the training until it was time to eat.

Sarah moaned as her head rested on the island. "What happen to you kiddo?" She didn't need to look up to know it was Tony. And for that she was grateful for. "I should've never let Clint and Natasha convince me to let them train me. I don't think I'll ever be able to move again." She groaned. Tony chuckled and patted her head. "Ow!" She moaned. "Drag yourself to your bathroom and take a hot bath. You'll feel better." He told her. "Do I have to move?" He chuckled and looked at Thor. "Care to carry the injured damsel?" He asked. Had she not been in pain Sarah would've beaten him senseless. Instead she allowed Thor to pick her up and carry her to her bathroom, the tub already filled with hot water. "Thanks Thor." She sighed as he set her down on the edge of the tub and left, closing the door behind him.

Tony had been right about the hot water. For minutes after she climb in Sarah's sore muscle had relaxed enough to allow her to move about with no discomfort. Letting out a sigh she let her eyes fall close. "You did well hiding you skill from them but that slip might cost you in the future." Sarah nearly jumped out of the tub at Loki's voice. "WHAT THE HELL!? Weren't you ever taught not to enter a bathroom when a woman is bathing?" She growled. "Have something to be ashamed of?" He chuckled. She want to kill him, but held back. Drawing her knees to her chest she let out an annoyed sigh. "Did you come here with new information or just to peek at my naked body?" Loki took a seat on the edge of the tub. "Don't flatter yourself. I've seen enough naked women to know what you look like." He then looked towards the cabinets. "The Order is a hard group to find. Even the two I saw in the ally had seemingly vanished into thin air." This wasn't what she was hoping to hear from him. "We need to know who they are and what they are up to. If they plan to kill us we have to know when and more importantly why. Is there no way for you to find them?" Loki looked thoughtful for a moment. "The only reason I can think for them disappearing is that they have gone beyond the door." Didn't take Sarah long to figure out that Loki meant the door to the other world. "What's stopping you from going there?" She asked. "You said it was with the aid of three fairies that you and your friends are able to leave that world. I doubt they would trust me as you seem to." Sarah let out a sigh. "You want me to take you there." She ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "Fine. Two days from today meet me at the door. I'll introduce you to the fairies and tell them to let you come and go as need be." Loki stood with a grin. "I shall be waiting then." He turned to leave before turning back. "I don't know why you feel the need to be modest. You're not so hard on the eyes naked." He then smirked and was gone. Sarah grumbled something like "damn stupid god!" Before getting out of the tub and drying off, swearing that if he did that again she would kill him.


	13. The results are in and Loki's pushing it

Sarah had planned to face Peter with her questions on the casing but a call from Mitsuru halted that plan. The results were in. So after school Sarah picked them up and headed for the tower to read through them. She didn't care about the small details like weight and measurements of her team. She skipped straight to the health bit. And what she saw made her sigh. "Stain with age huh? This isn't what I was hoping for." She then texted the team to meet up.

"I want you guys to be honest with me. After using your Personas do you feel tired? Get headaches? Feel like death?" Sarah asked. She had set the files on the table before her so they wouldn't be able to hide anything because they knew she knew. "I do find myself drifting off at odd moments." Naoto confessed. "Yeah, I get headaches often since I started using my Persona again." Akihiko sighed. One by one the team confessed to what Sarah knew they had been feeling. "From what the tests reviled it seems that after a certain point using a Persona can wreck havoc on the body. It starts with exhaustion and headaches. But over time it looks like it might cause fainting, muscle pain, and lose of motor skills. There could be more side effects but at this point in time we can't risk testing for them. And I'm not sure if we can risk you guys continuing using your Personas." At that the room erupted in outrage. "Sarah we can't let you fight the Shadows on your own!" Akihiko shouted. "I feel fine! The tests are wrong." Yosuke. "You can't ask us to side on the side lines!" Kanji. Sarah held up her hand, silencing the team. "I understand why you're unhappy with this. But I cannot let you guys put your lives on the line. If anyone one of you fainted during battle it could cost either your life or someone else's. I'm not saying this because I want to; But because I worry about your health and safety. Yes this does leave us with just me to fight the Shadows. But Aigis will be up and running soon, so I won't be alone. And there is a chance that there are other Persona users in the city that have yet to awaken to their power. I'm sorry everyone, but as your leader I cannot allow any of you to put yourselves at risk. As of now all of you are order to stay out of the other world and forbidden to use your Personas." It hurt to give that order, for everyone of them hung their heads looking hurt. "H-hey wait Sarah. What if you rotate the team?" Peter suggested. "What?" Sarah asked. "How long does it take for the effects of using a Persona to take hold?" Peter asked. "I didn't start feeling tired till shortly after the Shadow Tony battle." Naoto answered. "I started feeling the headaches right after we left the other world the first time we trained with you guys." Akihiko answered. The answers from the others were more or less the same. "As I thought. Mitsuru and Akihiko started feeling them right away while Naoto and her friends felt them later on." Sarah raised a brow at Peter, who let out a sigh. "Sarah Mitsuru and Akihiko have been Persona users longer then the others. If they limit there time using I'm sure they'll be all right. As for Naoto's group you can rotate them. One week go for a four man team while the next three man, or something like that." He suggested. Sarah thought on that. "That's not a bad idea Peter. It wouldn't hurt to at least try." Sarah agreed. "Alright then. Mitsuru. Akihiko. From now on you two will only join the team once a month. If there is a strong Shadow I will allow you the chance to join, so long as you are fit enough to fight when the time comes and that you haven't already fought that week. I agree with Peter's idea of three man teams. I will rotate teammates each week. Anyone disagree with this?" No one disagreed. "Alright then. That's settled. Now on to Loki." She noticed everyone tensed slightly, but not as much as when she first told them he was helping. "It seems the Order has disappeared. Loki believes they may be in the other world so I shall be taking him there in a few days. Kanji. Teddie. I want you two to join us. I will call you when it's time." The two in question nodded. "Peter I want you there as well. You might not have a Persona but I trust you and would feel better if you were there." Peter smiled at Sarah. "Sure thing Sarah." With everything settled Sarah dismissed the team.

"Where'd you disappear to?" Tony asked as Sarah walked past him. "Needed to speak with Peter about something. Plus I was also looking into sports gear for when I pick my team." She answered. He nodded and walked off to where ever he was going. _Sometimes it's just too easy to lie to them. That is sad._ Sarah headed for the gym to do a light work out. She really didn't feel like doing much, she was still worrying about her team and that made her not want to sit still.

Entering the gym Sarah found Steve at the bag. She rolled her eyes and headed for the treadmill. "Hey Steve." She greeted as she set up the machine. He glanced at her and smiled. "Sarah. Everything all right? You look troubled." _Trust him to notice._ "Normal things. School, grades, friends." She listed while mentally adding _Shadows, Personas, the Order, and Loki._ "Anything I could help with?" He asked while dabbing at his forehead with a towel and walking over to her. Sarah got on the treadmill and threw him a smile. "Sadly teen years are a lot different then they were during your time. Besides I have to get a handle on them myself." She held up a hand when he went to argue with her. "But I know when to ask for help. So try not to worry about me too much." Steve shook his head. "I don't know about you sometimes Sarah. Sometimes I think you have a better grasp on things then the rest of us." Sarah chuckled. "Yeah right. I just adjust quicker then most." She shrugged. "Well I might not know what it's like to be a teen these days, but I am here if you need anything." The two shared a smile before time seemed to stop, causing Sarah to nearly fall face first into the controls. _Card time already? All right Steve, which are you?_ The card appeared and flipped. _Justice. How fitting for someone like Steve._ Card disappeared and time started flowing. And Sarah nearly fell off the treadmill. "Careful!" Had Steve not grabbed her she would've fallen for sure. "Thanks Steve." She stepped off and shut the machine off. "Guess one thing you can't do is talk and use the treadmill at the same time." He joked. "Hey! Don't start turning into Tony on me." She joked back. "Come on. Natasha and Clint told me they're training you. Why don't I show you a few things?" Sarah happily accepted the invitation.

Everyone was surprised when Steve and Sarah entered the kitchen. Reason? Steve was covered in bruises and sweat, while Sarah was just covered in sweat. "What happened to you?" Clint asked Steve. "I'm not sure. I was teaching Sarah a few moves and some how I got hurt." Steve was clearly confused and worried by this. "So the Captain gets beaten up by a teen girl? Someone better stay away from his fan girls then." Tony joked. "It's not funny! When we switched to sparing every time he tried to hit me he ended up shouting in pain and holding the area on his body that he was aiming to hit on me." Sarah growled. "Really?" Bruce asked, already on his feet and checking Steve's injuries. "Yeah. It doesn't hurt much now but it did when it happened." Steve confirmed. "Steve sit down and relax. I'll take care of dinner." Sarah instructed before moving to the stove. "Since when do you cook?" Tony asked. "Hey I can take care of myself you know? That includes cooking meals." Sarah was checking the fridge for ideas. "This should be interesting to watch." Tony joked. _I'll show him._ Sarah thought while grabbing some chicken.

And show him she did, as well as the rest of the Avengers. "I take back what I said before. You do know how to cook." Tony admitted. "I vote we make Sarah cook all the meals." Clint said while finishing his plate. "No way! I'd have no time for homework if I had to feed your bottomless pits." Everyone laughed at that. "Speaking of homework?" Pepper spoke up. "I have it all done. I took care of it on the drive home." Sarah answered. Pepper, and Steve for that matter were happy to hear that. "Now if you guys don't mind I have a test coming up that I know I'm not yet ready for." Sarah then set her plate in the sink and headed for her room.

Sarah wasn't sure if she should groan in annoyance or simply roll her eyes at the god sitting at her desk, looking over her notes. Shutting her door Sarah sighed. "What are you doing here?" Loki turned to her. "I thought that was plain to see. What is all this?" He asked while waving her notes about. "My study notes! Now if you don't mind I want to study." She snatched them from her and pointed to her bed, letting him know she wanted the chair. Loki held up his hands as he stood. "No need to be mad." He took a seat on the bed and just sat there watching Sarah as she read over her notes.

Sarah cracked her back and rubbed at the back of her neck. "Oh boy. The test is tomorrow and I don't think I'm ready." She sighed. "Why not cheat then?" Sarah turned to Loki, finding him lying on her bed. "Teachers are good at finding cheaters." She pointed out. Loki gave her a grin. "But not when a god is giving you the answers." Sarah frowned. "I don't cheat." She turned back to her notes only to find Loki sitting on her desk. "You'll pass for sure." He pointed out. "Whatever happened to you only helping me by learning what you can about the Order?" She asked. "I'm bored." She rolled her eyes at him. "No Loki. You can't give me the answers during the test. I want to pass knowing that I did it on my own. Other wises there's no point in taking the test." Gathering up her notes Sarah set them in her desk drawer and stood. "Now I'm going to get ready for bed." She went to her dresser, grabbed her pyjamas, and went into the bathroom. She had only just taken off her shirt when she felt eyes on her. "LOKI!" She screamed before throwing a hairbrush at him. He quickly disappeared.

"What is it with you and spying on me?" She growled while glaring at him. "I thought you still wanted to talk." He shrugged. "When I go into the bathroom I want to be alone." Sarah then grabbed her brush and began brushing out the knots in her hair. As she looked into the mirror her pyjamas suddenly changed into a silk green nightgown. "You have five seconds to change them back!" She growled. Soon enough she was back in her pyjama bottoms and tank top. "You look better in the nightgown." Loki defended. "My body, my choice."

Finished with her hair she turned to her bed and found Loki under the covers. "Now what do you think you're doing?" She asked. "Keeping you company?" He asked with a smirk. "Not happening. Out." She pointed to the door. Loki got out of the bed. "Can't take a joke?" He asked. "Oh I can take a joke. Just has to be a good one." She walked past Loki to fix her side before turning to him. "You like bugging me, don't you?" He didn't answer. He just smiled and disappeared. Sarah rolled her eyes. "I give him too much freedom around me." She sighed before climbing under the covers and telling Jarvis to shut off the lights.

All through the test Sarah was chewing on her bottom lip in thought. Several times she heard Loki whispering in her ear but she blocked him out till he fell silent. By the end of the day she felt she did ok. _How I envy you Peter._ She sighed as she watched him turn in his test. Sarah checked her pocket and found the casing. _No. Now's not the time to ask about it. We just survived a test. Time to relax._ Tucking the casing back into her pocket she smiled at Peter as he walked over to her. "Freedom?" She asked. "Freedom." He laughed before she took his hand and led him out of the school.


	14. Labrys battle and Peter's Shadow

Saturday. No school for the next two days. But Sarah had promised to take Loki to the other world that night. So after eating Sarah sharpened her daggers, made sure her protective vest was ready, then headed out to do a little shopping.

She stopped by the metal shop Sarah had Jak look over the items she got from the teams battles against the Shadows. "Whoa. I've never seen anything like these before." Jak commented as he held up a fang the size of his hand. "Think your dad would like using these?" She asked. Jak smiled. "Like using them? Sarah I think you will become his favourite person after he sees these." Jak then tallied up everything and what he was willing to pay for them. "If you want to do some shopping in here go a head, I can take the price of whatever you get out of what I'm paying for these." Jak offered. So Sarah did some searching, finding a new claw for Teddie and a wicked looking shield for Kanji. Setting them on the counter Jak checked their prices and took it off what Sarah was getting. "Alright then, I owe you $172.35." Jak quickly counted out the money and handed it to Sarah before wrapping and bagging the weapons. "Come back in a few days. My dad should have made something with this stuff." Jak called as Sarah left. "Will do." She called back. With her bags in hand (weapons hidden in the bottom of one of them) she headed for the tower.

"Sarah there is a young woman at the entrance who is demanding to speak with you." Jarvis announced. "Huh? I wonder who that could be." Sarah got off the couch and headed for the elevator. She know it couldn't be a member of the team since they would've called or texted that they were on their way over.

The girl Sarah found waiting for here had white-ish grey hair and red eyes. Sarah recognized the girl from school. She had never spoken with her but she had seen her around the school grounds during lunch. "There you are! Y'know how long I was lookin for ya?" From the way she spoke Sarah guessed her to be from Brooklyn. "Sorry I didn't know anyone was looking for me. Um, I'm sorry but I don't know your name." Sarah felt bad for her. The girl had been looking for her and Sarah hadn't a clue who she was. "Name's Labrys. Now enough with the small talk. Give me back my sister!" Sarah was momentarily thrown by the order before becoming shocked as Labrys pulled out a huge axe. The thing was bigger then her for crying out loud! "What? What are you talking about?" Sarah, having hidden her daggers on her so as not to forget them later pulled out her weapons. "Don't play dumb with me. I know you got her. Now just hand her over and I won't have to mess you up." Labrys warned. "Put the axe down." Tony ordered. He and the others were standing off to the side, suited up. Clearly Jarvis had informed them that Sarah was being threatened. "Can't fight your own battles huh?" Labrys growled, finding the appearance of the Avengers more annoying then anything else. "Labrys I don't even know who your sister is! Hell I didn't know who you were until a few minutes ago! Let's just put the weapons away and talk about this." Sarah didn't want to have to fight her, less so in front of the Avengers since there'd be no way to hide her skill from them. "Are you stupid or somethin? Just give me my sister and I'll go. It's not hard to understand." She wasn't listening to Sarah. Clearly a battle with her would be unavoidable. "Labrys I'm sorry. But I don't have a clue who your sister is so there for I don't have here. But since you won't listen you leave me no choice." Sarah then charged at Labrys, just barely ducking under her axe as Labrys swung it at her.

Tony and the team tried to help but after Labrys' axe left a deep gash in his armour and Steve and Thor had been knocked out it was clear they weren't going to be of much help. Sarah however was able to dodge most of the attacks and those that hit (punches that followed swings from the axe) seem to only hurt Labrys. "Huh, got yourself somethin with reflect physical? Doesn't make a diff." Labrys brought the axe high above her head and swung it downwards. _Oh crap!_ No time to dodge and no way her daggers would be able to block it. There was a flash of white and the sound of metal on metal. "What?" Sarah asked before realizing that standing over her holding the axe's blade between her hands was Aigis. "Aigis?" Sarah thought Aigis wouldn't be working until next week. "Sister!" Labrys called before tossing the axe and running to Aigis, hugging her. Aigis returned the hug. "Sister?" Tony asked. Sarah stood and walked around the two till she was able to see them both clearly. She then pulled the two apart. "Labrys, had you mentioned Aigis before we started fighting I would've known who you were talking about." Labrys got a thoughtful look on her face. "Didn't I tell ya she was my sister?" She asked. "No Labrys. There are no records of you stating that we are sisters during the time you spoke with Sarah." Aigis answered. "How do you know? You weren't here." Sarah pointed out. "I was connected to Jarvis during my time here. I accessed the towers cameras and saw what happened. I am sorry for Labrys Sarah." Aigis bowed to Sarah. "Hey hey hey! What's this? I came here to save ya!" Labrys growled. "I did not require saving Labrys. I was damaged during battle with a powerful Shadow. Sarah brought me here for repairs." Aigis explained. "Oh?" Sarah rolled her eyes at Labrys' response. "Are your repairs done Aigis?" Sarah knew Mitsuru and Akihiko would be happy to see their friend back on her feet. "Yes, I believe my systems have been fully restored. Thank you Mr. Stark and Dr. Banner for your help." Aigis had turned to Tony and Bruce and bowed to them. "You're welcome?" Tony asked not sure what was going on. "I'll call Mitsuru and let her know you're back in action. She'll be so happy." Sarah took out her cell and dialled Mitsuru. Clint nudged Tony. "That girl's sister is a machine?" He asked. Tony just shrugged.

Akihiko collected Aigis and Labrys, telling Sarah that Mitsuru, thought trusting of Tony wanted to make sure Aigis had lost none of her Shadow combat programs during her repairs. Aigis promised Sarah to speak with her once the evaluation of her systems was done as well as that she was going to assist in the fight against Shadows. Sarah was just glad to have Labrys out of her hair. "Can't talk, have to meet with friends. Laters!" Sarah had shouted to Tony as she took off when he tried to question her on what had happened. Sarah had to get to the ally to meet with Loki and the gang. _What a day this has turned out to be. Fighting Shadows will seem tame after Labrys._

Star was buzzing around Loki, studying him from every angle while Zaci glared at her and Jade just floated in the background. "Are you done yet?" Loki asked Star, who then flew over to Sarah. "Do we have ta?" She whined. "Star Loki is helping us by looking into their Order that wants us out of the way. That wants me dead. So ya you do." At the words dead and Sarah Star changed attitudes. "No way! No one's gonna kill my idol! We'll make sure that Loki is able to leave this world when even he wants." She promised. "Thank you Star." Sarah was glad she was now on board with things. Zaci suddenly tensed. "What's wrong with you?" Kanji asked him, his new shield slung over his shoulder. "A Shadow. Not as powerful as the one you faced to save your friend but stronger then the others." Zaci answered. "I feel it too." Jade and Star said. "Where is it?" Sarah asked. Loki appeared interested in what was happening. "It's close." Zaci answered. "Well lookie here." The team turned to face the speaker and all of them (other then Loki and the fairies that is) gasped in shock. The Shadow that stood before them looked like Spiderman but with a black suit instead of his red and blue one, the spider on his chest was white instead of black. "What the? Spiderman has a Shadow now?" Sarah asked in shock. Peter took a step back, afraid of what might happen next. "What are you still doing hanging around with Sarah? I thought you realized it was pointless." Everyone at first had no idea who he was talking to. "Shut up!" Peter snapped, drawing all eyes to him. "Oh come on. You and I both know you are useless here. Just dead weight dragging Sarah down. Even with your power you can't do anything against a Shadow." The Black Suit Spiderman laughed. "Just shut up! You don't know anything!" Peter snapped. "Peter? What's going on?" Sarah asked. She had heard from Naoto and her group about people facing their Shadows in the TV world, but that didn't explain why Shadow Spiderman was targeting Peter. "I know nothing huh? That's funny since" Shadow Spiderman reached up and began pulling off his mask. "No!" Peter yelled. But it was too late. The mask was off and Sarah, Kanji, Teddie, and Loki found themselves looking at a perfect replica of Peter. "I am you." Shadow Spiderman, or rather Shadow Peter finished. "What the?! Peter's Spiderman?" Kanji asked as he looked between the Shadow and Peter. "All those powers and you can't fight a Shadow. You brought down the Lizard yet a weak Shadow is too much for you. You should stick to fighting petty crime Peter. After all you'll just get in the way here." Peter was covering his ears, trying not to listen to his Shadow. "I'm here because Sarah wants me to be here." He told himself. Shadow Peter laughed. "Aw, you'll do anything for a pretty girl. But in the end it will end in pain for her. After all look what happened to Gwen. Her father's dead because of you." Peter shook his head. "Shut up." Peter begged. "All that power and you couldn't save him. What makes you think Sarah will be any different, huh? She won't and you know it. So why bother? Why bother doing anything? In the end, you'll end up hurting everyone!" Peter fisted his hands and glared at the Shadow. "No! That won't happen! I won't let it. So shut up you fake!" Teddie and Kanji gasped. "Peter stop!" They both yelled. Sarah had no idea what was going on anymore and Loki looked to be enjoying himself. "Fake? Don't you get it? I'm you. Nothing will ever change that." Shadow Peter was smirking, almost like he knew something Peter didn't. "No you're not!" Peter snapped. "Peter don't say it!" Kanji yelled but Peter didn't listen to him. "YOU'RE NOT ME!" At those word Sarah realized what Kanji and Teddie had been going on about. She drew her weapons and got ready for the fight that was about to take place. Shadow Peter started laughing as darkness surround him. Peter suddenly fell to his knees as the darkness disappeared from around Shadow Peter. "I am a Shadow. The true self." Shadow Peter had taken the form of a giant with a strange spear stuck through him. His body was twisted, black slime seemed to dripping from him and it's mouth was full of twisted fangs. "So do all Shadows do this?" Loki asked, making Sarah remember that he was standing there. "Loki stay with Peter. We'll take care of this." Sarah twirled her daggers before stepping towards the Shadow. "So we just beat it and then Peter faces himself right?" Sarah asked the two with her. "Yeah. That's how it always worked back in Inaba." Kanji confirmed. "No reason it shouldn't work now. Let's do it."

Sarah didn't make the same mistake with Shadow Peter as she had with Shadow Tony. She paced the battle and made sure to use the recovery items Mitsuru had given her. As a result Shadow Peter fell before them and returned to his human form. "Peter!" Sarah and the others ran over to said person as he was standing up. "I'm alright. Sarah?" Peter was looking behind her at his Shadow. "It won't leave until you accept it Peter." Teddie explained. "But I" Peter started. "Just stop!" Sarah snapped. Everyone looked at her. "Peter what ever you feel the need to hide just stop it. Hiding things, pretending they aren't true, these things are what lead to the battle we just fought. You need to make peace with yourself or else your other self will just keep attacking us. So please Peter." Sarah begged. "Sarah?" Peter looked away from her, unsure what to do. "Hey Peter. I might not know what happened to you, but I do know that you're with people who understand what it's like to have a part of you that you don't think the world can accept. A part that no one can know for fear of them hating you or something. We all got something like that." Kanji offered Peter a friendly smile and placed his hand on his shoulder. Peter let out a sigh. He was scared to do what he knew he had to. To admit that Shadow Peter was in a way right about him. "Peter?" Peter looked up and found Sarah smiling at him. Her eyes seemed to glow with understanding. "It's ok Peter. No matter what you'll still be the same guy you've always been. Just with less to hide." Peter nodded his head. Ready to face himself. He then walked over to Shadow Peter and took a breath. "You're right. Gwen's father died because of me. I made the Lizard and people suffered for it. But that is why I keep fighting as Spiderman. So that people don't have to suffer. So that I can fix mistakes like what happened between me and Dr. Connors. You're also right about my being useless in this world. I did come because of Sarah. And it's because of Sarah that I'll keep coming back. She needs me. I might not be able to fight Shadows like her and the others but I can still be there for her when things get too hard. When she needs someone to just listen. I'll play the support role for her. You are me. And I, I'm you. Let's both be there for Sarah." Shadow Peter smiled and nodded. Instead of disappearing like Shadow Tony however Shadow Peter suddenly changed into a young man with long blue hair wearing white armour and holding a spear with a spider wrapped around the hilt. The figure then disappeared and Peter fell to his knees again. "Peter?" Sarah called as the group ran over to him. "Ha. Nice to meet you Cu Chulainn." He said before looking up. "I have a Persona now Sarah." Sarah smiled at him. "Welcome to the combat side of the team then." She chuckled. "We better get him out of here. He needs time to rest." Teddie suggested. "Since it's not his first time he shouldn't take to long to be battle ready." Kanji added. "I think I agree with leaving." Sarah turned to Loki who was swaying a little. "I suddenly don't feel so well." He finished, rubbing at his temples. "Huh, so a god gets weakened by this place too?" Kanji was surprised. "Come on guys. Let's get them home." Sarah then took hold of Peter's arm and lifted him while Kanji and Teddie took Loki.

"Peter's a Persona user now?" Mitsuru asked over the phone after Sarah relayed the day to her. "Yeah. There's more that we should go over but for now I think I'll leave it at that." Sarah had left out that Peter admitted to being Spiderman. After all she was in a tower full of people that were trying to work out just who Spiderman is as well as get him on their team. _That's the last thing Peter needs right now. Maybe after we're done fighting the Shadows and have dealt with the Order he can join them. But for now he's got more then enough on his plate._ Mitsuru's sigh brought Sarah back to the present. "Well maybe this is a blessing. I was worried about your set up of three man teams. But now that Peter has a Persona of his own maybe you can do four man teams instead." Sarah smiled. "Alright Mitsuru, four man teams it is." She could almost see the smile in Mitsuru's laugh. "Didn't mean to twist your arm Sarah." She joked. "No it's fine. And you are right. With Peter around things will be a little safer." Sarah glanced at her clock. "I have to go. Pepper wants us to do a games night and I don't want to run late." The two bid each other goodbye and Sarah headed for the living room. Where she found the team gathered around Cranium. The team argued over who got Sarah for ten minutes before rock, paper, scissors put her with Steve and Bruce. After that it all spiral into chaos, but the good kind and Sarah felt a little closer to Tony, Pepper, and Steve.

Curling up in her bed that night Sarah couldn't help but smile as she thought back over the day's events. Peter was now one of them, Loki could freely enter and leave the other world to search for the Order, Aigis was back in action, Sarah had met Labrys (but still wasn't sure what to make of her), and she got to beat Tony at several board games. Thinking back though Sarah remembered how Steve had gotten hurt during their sparing. Labrys had gotten hurt as well and mentioned something about having something with reflect physical. Sarah promised herself that in the morning she would slip away and question Igor. He seemed like the one with the answers and Sarah wouldn't leave the Velvet room until she had her's. Sarah yawned and rolled over, Jarvis shutting off the lights for her. As she closed her eyes one thought ran through her mind. _Wouldn't change a thing about today._


	15. Learning a few things and Soccer

Sunday morning Sarah had entered the kitchen long enough to grab her morning tea before telling everyone she had some errands to run. Her first stop was going to be the Velvet room to question Igor and James.

"Welcome my dear. Ah! I see you have a question burning in your mind." Igor greeted her. "Igor I was training with Steve not to long ago and every time he hit me he was the one to take the pain. Later when I did battle against Labrys the same thing happened only she mentioned something about reflect physical. Can you explain what happened?" Igor gave a small nod. "Ah yes. Reflect physical is a skill some Personas have. Every Persona has both strengths and weaknesses. But some of them are able to reflect attacks back at the one who cast it. Then there are those who can drain attacks to heal wounds. I'm sure you yourself have noticed this happen once or twice." Sarah thought on that before nodding. There had been times in which, while using Black Frost she had absorbed a fire attack from a Shadow. "There are also auto-skill with the Persona, upon sensing battle will cast the moment you engage your enemy." Sarah took this in and filed it away as useful. "So outside the Other World these skills still hold?" This surprised Sarah. She had tried to summon a Persona in her room one night but failed to do so. So she had thought the skills of her Personas would be unavailable to her in the real world. "That is correct." _Have to be careful then. After all if strengths and weaknesses are also active in this world then one wrong move could put me out of action. Oh Sarah. What have you gotten yourself into?_

The rest of the day passed by rather dully. She shopped for some clothes, a water bottle, gym bag, soap, towel, and a few other odds and ends she felt she needed. After getting back to the tower she studied for a few hours before Clint dragged her off to train with him and Natasha. Once more they tested her skills but she was able to hide her true skills better then she did last time.

Monday had finally come around and Sarah was lightly tapping her pen against her thigh as the clock counted down to the final bell. After that bell rang Sarah would be joining a sports team. However time seemed to be moving far too slow for her liking as the teacher droned on and on about something of little importance to her.

Sarah nearly jumped out of her seat as her teacher placed a paper before her. Looking it over Sarah discovered it was her test from Friday. "Hm? 57 out of 100? Well that's a pass at least. Pepper won't be too mad with me; this is my first test of the year so I can improve." It was then that the bell rang. Stuffing her test results into her bag Sarah slung it over her shoulder and joined Peter in the hall. "How'd you do on the test?" He asked. "57. You?" Peter grinned a little. "82. Want me to tutor you?" Shaking her head Sarah sighed. "I don't know. We have a lot on our plates as is with out adding you giving me lessons. Speaking of things we're doing." Sarah dropped her voice to a whisper. "How are you feeling since the Shadow Peter fight?" She knew that Peter had stayed home all Sunday but wasn't sure if he was well enough to be in school after only one day of rest. Peter gently took hold of Sarah's arm and led her into an empty classroom. "It's not like that was my first time in that world Sarah. Also I'm not like everyone else." Sarah nodded. "That may be Peter but I worry. Given the things Shadow Peter said you need to take time to think about what you've been hiding and denying. I want you to be fine in both body and mind. Do you understand?" Peter nodded. "Yeah I understand. That's why Spiderman isn't going to be seen for a few days. Problem is if Peter misses too many days of school with out a fever my aunt will order me to get to school. I am taking the time to get my head in order Sarah. I promise when next you go to the Other World I will be 100% fit for duty." She wanted to argue but knew he was right. "Ok. Let me know if you need someone to talk to." Peter agreed to that and Sarah couldn't help but feel like she understood just a little bit more of him. "Hey weren't you signing up for a team today?" Peter's question surprised Sarah. "Shoot! Gotta run. Laters Peter!" She then bolted out the door and to the field.

"Alright everyone looks like we only got five new members right now. Lee, I'm counting on you to show them the ropes and get them up to speed with the rest of the team." The gym teacher said to a girl with short red hair and brown eyes. "Will do sir." Lee threw the teacher a smirk to which the teacher rolled his eyes and headed off back inside the school. "Ok team warm ups while I get to know the newbies." Lee ordered the team before walking over to the group of five. "Alright now. First thing you'll do is tell me your name and strengths. Then I'll put you through a light warm up since it's your first time and after that you'll show us what ya got." One by one Lee walked over to each person and listened as they told her what she wanted to hear till she got to Sarah. "You're the girl I've seen hanging around with Parker. Rumour has it you're a Stark." From the corner of her eye Sarah noticed the four other girls were whispering. "No I'm not. He's my godfather so there's no relation." Lee nodded. "Ok then. Name and strength." "Sarah." Sarah wasn't sure if Lee believed her or not about not being related to Tony Stark. _Doesn't matter right now. Best to just get this over and done with._

"Hey new girl!" Trying not to roll her eyes at being called new girl Sarah turned to her teammates. "Clean up the equipment before you leave." One of them ordered. Sarah looked around and found that the other new members had already taken off. _Guess I better do it. But these girls better not think I'll always agree to this._ "Ok." She noticed the victory smirks on their faces as the girls took off. "Sarah!" Turning she found Lee running up to her. Lee had been called into the gym teacher's office before practice had ended. Looking around Lee frowned. "Where's the rest of the team?" She asked. "Took off after telling me to clean up." Sarah shrugged. "Ugh! They always do this to new members. Look Sarah don't worry about it. I'll clean up while you head for home." Lee started gathering up the balls and was surprised when Sarah picked up the bag for them. "This'll go faster if we both do it Lee. Besides we can plan how to teach the girls that they can't keep ordering newbies around." Lee smirked at that. "What's this? The girl who hangs out with goodie Parker wants revenge?" Sarah chuckled. "Just cause I hang out with good boys don't mean I'm all good." The two laughed at that before picking up everything and talking out possible plans.

"See ya Sarah." Lee called as she left Sarah standing outside the school. Lee had offered to wait with Sarah till her ride arrived but Sarah waved off the offer. So Sarah was left sitting on the steps of her school waiting for someone to come get her. Taking out her phone Sarah started playing Angry Birds while she waited. She had only just begun when a bush near her rattled. Gripping her phone tightly Sarah got to her feet and glared at the bush. "Come out!" She ordered. To her surprise a furry dog head popped out of the bush. It was mostly orange but the ears were white and looked to belong to a fox. "Aww!" Sarah couldn't help herself. The thing was just too cute. Sarah blinked though when a second head popped out looking a lot like the first only with a strip of white running from the nose to the forehead. She then watched as the two animals stepped out from the bush and sat before her. Their bodies were orange and tails were white and fox like. "Well now, aren't you an interesting pair? What's that in you mouth?" Sarah leaned forward and took a leaf the one with the strip had in it's mouth. "I've never seen anything like this before." Sarah then snapped a picture of it and ordered Jarvis to run a search for anything related to it. It didn't take him long to bring up a page on the leaves. "Healing leaves? Interesting." Sarah read through the page before glancing at the fox like dogs. Their eyes shone like they understood more then they should. Sarah also noticed the one with out the strip had what looked like a small coin box around it's neck. Glancing at the leaf, the dogs, and the coin box Sarah quickly realized what they were trying to say. "Oh. Are you offering these healing leaves in exchange money?" At the happy barks Sarah sighed. "Dogs who know how to run a business. Tony would love this. All right then. If these really work I'm sure we can come to an understanding. May I take this one for free and see if it works?" The two looked at each other before looking back at Sarah, tails waging. "I'll take that as a yes." The two then took off just as Sarah's ride arrived. Today it was Steve on his bike. "Sarah!" He called with a smile. "Coming." She placed the leaf in her bag and tucked her phone away as she walked over to him.

"So wait Teddie's a Shadow?" Sarah had gone over the test results a second time and noticed an oddity in Teddie's results. "He was a Shadow but now he's more or less like us. I thought you knew that Sarah." She was talking to Yosuke seeing how Teddie was having a nap. "No this is the first I've ever heard of this. So we have at least one machine fighting for us plus a Shadow? And here I thought the Avengers were the oddest team out there." Yosuke chuckled. "Well when you put it like that I see what you mean." Shaking her head Sarah picked up the leaf she had gotten earlier. "Hey Yosuke. Did your team ever use leaves for healing?" "Yeah. There was this fox that use to come with us to the TV world. Damn thing charged us for the leaves every time. I swear my best gear cost less then what that thing sometimes charged us. Luckily Yu managed to talk the thing in to dropping the price more or less. Wait a second. You're not telling me that fox is here!" Yosuke clearly wasn't in love with the fox he had been talking about. "No. But I meet these twins who I think are half dog half fox. One of them gave me a leaf and the other had a coin box around it's neck." She heard Yosuke sigh. "Great. That thing had babies. What do you plan to do about them?" Sarah turned the leaf over in her hand. "Well if this thing works like they did during your time in Inaba then maybe we could use them. After all we may need every edge we can get." Yosuke agreed with that. Glancing at the clock Sarah sighed. "I gotta go. Talk to you later Yosuke." She then hung up and head for the kitchen.

"What happen to you?" She asked as Clint came in supported by Natasha. "He took a spill during training." Natasha answered for him. "I think I'll have to sit out the next mission." He sighed. Sarah ran a finger over the leaf in her pocket before taking it out. "Sarah where did you get that?" Bruce asked as he stared at the leaf. "I just found this. You know what it is?" She asked. "During my time running I learned that leaves like that could rid a person of pain. That might help Clint. May I?" Sarah gave the leaf to Bruce and watched as he walked over and behind Clint. "Could you lift the back of your shirt and tell me where it hurts?" Clint did as he was asked. Mere moments after Bruce applied the leaf Clint was sitting up right. "Hey it worked." He commented. "Good find Sarah." Sarah smiled at Bruce. _Well that takes care of testing the leaf. Guess those dogs will come in handy._

To Sarah's surprise at the meeting the day after meeting them the dogs were seated at the table. No one seemed willing to sit next to them though. "Sarah? Are these the dogs you mentioned?" Yosuke asked, not taking his eyes off the pair. "Yeah that's them. The leaf they gave me worked so I guess they'll be joining us from now on." Mitsuru raised a brow at the news. "Leaves? I've heard a little about them from Naoto but really Sarah? You want to bring these two with us to the Other World?" Sarah went to say something but Akihiko let out a small gasp. "Mitsuru, don't they look a little familiar to you?" Mitsuru took a second look at the pair before frowning slightly. "Koromaru?" The two barked at the name. "Who's Koromaru?" Kanji asked. "He was a dog that turned out to be able to use a Persona. He was a part of our group. After Nyx he left and we never saw him again." Mitsuru explained, her eyes never leaving the pair. "So wait? You think that Koromaru found the fox from Inaba and these two are their kids?" Yosuke asked. "It's not unheard of for animal to travel great distances. The fact that the two of them meet is though a surprise. And the fact that these two found their way to Sarah is a greater surprise." Naoto commented. "It appears they have been drawn to this city by Sarah." Everyone jumped and turned to the doors. "Aigis, glad you could make it." Mitsuru greeted her. "Hey what about me?" Labrys appeared to be pouting slightly. "I take it then that things are good between us now Labrys?" Sarah was unarmed so she felt a little uneasy about Labrys. "Huh? Oh yeah! We're cool." The two took seats near the dogs. "What do you mean they were drawn here by Sarah?" Kanji asked. "The power which Sarah possesses is greater then that of our own. I believe these animals, like myself were able to detect her when she gained her first Persona." Aigis explained. "Come to think about it, on the day Sarah got her Persona both Mitsuru and I were able to sense it." Akihiko voiced. "Same, though I was in the world with her at the time." Naoto confirmed. "I suspect that all Persona users were able to sense Sarah's power when she gained it. " Everyone stared at Aigis in surprised. "She's really that strong?" Kanji asked. "It is not a matter of being strong. But being the Wild card." That was a term Sarah had heard before. "Loki mentioned my being called the Wild card by two members of the Order. I take it this has to do with my ability to use multiple Personas in battle while everyone else is only able to use one." Aigis nodded. "That is part of what makes you so different from us. This ability can attract attention from other Persona users." "I hate to cut this short people but Sarah and I have to leave now if we're going to make it to school and only be a minute late." Peter interrupted. "Right. Aigis can you send me what you know about the Wild card?" Sarah asked as she stood. "I shall forward the information to your email. Shall I register as a student at your school as well?" Sarah shook her head. "No Aigis. I think you best stick with Mitsuru for now. Labrys, you coming?" Labrys stood and threw her backpack over her shoulder. "Ya I'm coming. See ya later sis." The three then left the boardroom.

Sarah was relaxing on her bed turning over everything she'd learned in the last 24 hours. "So much information but I get the feeling I've barely scratched the surface." She sighed. Shutting her eyes Sarah let her mind go blank. "Welcome Sarah." Snapping her eyes open Sarah was surprised to find herself in what looked like a gazebo floating amongst the stars. "You are wondering what this place is?" Turning Sarah found a woman dressed in black wearing a white mask with a blue butterfly on it. The area that should've been uncovered to allow the wearer to see were sealed up. "This is the sea of your soul. All those stars you see around us are pieces of you." Sarah glanced around her at each star before turning back to the woman. "And you are?" She could almost feel the woman smiling. "Call me Philemon. I am here to aid you in this place. Now then, how do you wish to use this inner world?" Sarah tilted her head a little. "Use it? For what?" Philemon waved her hand and each Persona she had appeared between the two. "In your inner world you can view details regarding Personas and even your team mates and Social Links. You will be able to look over the abilities of those with you as well how strong your bonds with your Links are at the time. However until you decide how you wish this to appear you will be unable to view such details." Sarah ran a hand threw her hair and let out a huff. "Hmm? All right then. How bout I view the information like a menu in a video game." Philemon waved her hand and three options tilted Personas, Stats, and . "What's stats?" The option lit up for a moment before opening to revile details about Sarah herself. "Is that really necessary?" She asked while eyeing Philemon. "It is part of what you can view while here." Was the answer she got. "Ok, whatever." Sarah sighed. "I better go." Sarah turned but stop when Philemon spoke. "Before you go I should note that you may only enter this world outside of battle. This is due to your needing to let your mind go blank as you did when you first entered this. In battle you will not be able to free your mind enough to enter. Please keep this in mind." Philemon then bowed as Sarah's body began fading.


	16. StreetPersona and Alice

Running through her email Sarah was on the look out for anything interesting. After all it was late, the tower was silent, Loki was no where to be seen, and all her work was done. In short? She was bored as hell! "Huh?" She had just received an email from someone she didn't recognize with the address of Street_Persona. Clicking on it Sarah wondered if it wasn't one of her team mates trying to have some fun with her. "Sarah you need to be careful regardless of which world you are in. The Order is operating in both this world and the other world and they will take any opportunity to kill you. It's good that you have already joined up with other Persona users and that you are training with them but you must keep your guard up. I'll be watching Sarah. Don't make me have to step in to the fight too soon." She read. "What the? Who sent this?" Clicking reply Sarah typed a quick. "Who are you and what do you know about the other world?" She sent it, expecting to have to wait for a few days before getting a reply. A beep from her laptop however told her other wise. Clicking the new message she found only one line. "A fellow Persona user." She went to demand their name but her laptop shut down on her. "Why that little! I've been hacked!" Slamming the lid close Sarah push the laptop aside. "Jarvis! Remind me before I leave tomorrow to get Tony to upgrade my fire wall." She growled before switching off the lights and going to bed.

"A Persona user hacked your computer to warn you to be careful?" Peter asked as the two walked the halls of school. "I couldn't believe it either but that's what happened. They even told me not to make them join the fight too soon." Peter raised a brow at that. "So they plan to join us?" Sarah just shrugged her shoulders. A hand grabbed Sarah's arm and pulled her into a room the two had been passing. Peter quickly entered to ensure Sarah was alright. A girl a year or two older then Sarah shut and locked the door. Turning to face the two she pushed her blue bangs out of her brown eyes before fixing them with a disapproving stare. "You two need to stop putting yourselves in harms way." Peter and Sarah looked at each other before going to play stupid. However she beat them to it. "Don't lie to me! I know about Personas." That shocked them. "How could you know?" Peter asked her. "It doesn't matter. Ugh!" The girl reached up with her left hand and rubbed at her temple. "Those battle you two get into need to stop. And I'm also talking about Spiderman." At that she glared at Peter. "What!?" Neither could believe how much this one girl seemed to know about them. "Listen you, we can't stop doing what we do. You have no idea what it is that we are doing." Sarah tried to explain. "I know enough! About the Shadows, the Order, about the Velvet room." Sarah grabbed the girl at that. "There is only one person I told about the Velvet room. How the hell could you know?" She demanded. The girl pushed her away. "Stop endangering yourselves or else I start talking to the people you two don't want to know." The girl then turned and walked out the door. "Sarah my aunt can't find out about any of this!" Peter was clearly worried about this threat. "Tony and the team can't learn of this either Peter. We need to fight out how she knows and then convince her that it's not that we want to do any of this but that we have no choice in the matter. But first we need to find out who she is."

"What are you doing?" Bruce asked after finding Sarah in the lab. "I kind of had a disagreement with a girl at school and we left on bad terms. I have no idea who she is and I really want to tell her sorry. So... I hacked the school and am looking at student files to try to find her?" The lie was good and believable, it was the end bit that worried her. "So long as that's all you're doing I'll pretend you were never here." That was a relief for Sarah. "Thanks Bruce. There!" She tapped on the girl's picture. "Alice Neit. A year a head of me. Takes home room just across the hall from me and Peter." Sarah closed the page she had up and let out a sigh. _Good, we now know who she is. But that still leaves how she knows. She might've followed Peter and saw him change into his Spiderman costume. But how would she know about Shadows and Personas? And more importantly about the Velvet room._ "I'm starting to wish I could read minds Sarah, cause whatever you two fought about must've been big." Bruce joked. Sarah chuckled a little before a thought hit her. "Bruce? If someone were to just come into telepathy what would the signs be?" Sarah asked. "Why do you want to know?" Bruce clearly suspected something. "I think one of the students at school might be coming into that kind of power. I'm worried for them and want to help but I don't want to go in with out knowing for sure. I swear Bruce I'm not going to do anything to hurt them." Bruce thought for a moment before sighing. "Well with any powers they appear randomly, sometime during an emotional moment. Telepathy can cause headaches." _Alice appeared to have a headache while talking to me and Peter._ "Often times a telepath will slip up and give information that they shouldn't know about. A problem ones family might be having that they've told no one about for example. Other then that I really can't tell you much. Hope things turn out well for that student." Sarah smiled at him before leaving, heading for the elevator.

Sarah waited till both her and Peter had their food before sitting down in the food court. "The girl's name is Alice Neit and I think she's a telepath." Peter's eyes widen. "How can you be sure?" He asked. "As I said I only told one person about the Velvet room and they wouldn't dare tell anyone else since it has to do with Personas. And there's not really much chance she would've been able to follow you with out you knowing about it. Plus she seem to get a headache while she was talking to us. I believe her powers were acting up because she was getting frustrated with us since we weren't listening to her." Peter didn't look like he fully believed it but nodded. "So what do we do about her? You heard what she said. If we don't stop she'll tell both my aunt and the Avengers. If they learn of what we do we'll both be in hot water." "Peter I know. Neither of us can afford to have this happen. But I don't really see how we can get Alice to back off." Sarah sighed. "There has to be some way to get her to leave us alone." Peter sighed. "Want me to take care of this?" Sarah didn't have to turn to know who was speaking to them. "Loki no." She growled under her breath. Loki (disguised as Luke) slid into the seat next to her. "We don't need your help with this." Peter was glaring at Loki. "Then tell me how you plan to deal with this Alice? This person who can tell all your secrets to everyone you don't want to know?" He was clearly enjoying this, watching them suffer while trying to come up with a way to deal with Alice with out doing anything they didn't want to, like hurting her. "You do realize one of those secrets involves you, right?" Sarah couldn't help the smirk as Loki's face fell a little. "All the more reason to let me deal with her." He growled slightly. "No. We will deal with Alice in our own way. So stay out of it Loki." Sarah warned. Loki huffed out a breath. "Fine. Fine deal with this as you please. But don't come crying to me when your little secrets as spilt." Loki then stood and left. "Sarah I'm worried about him. He's like a crazed dog." Sarah raised a brow at that. "A crazed dog? Come on Peter, he's not that bad. He hasn't done anything that merits worrying just yet. Until I see something that suggests we can't trust him we bite out tongues and play nice with him." Peter didn't want to agree to that, but there was little choice in the matter. Yes Sarah was putting herself at risk by trusting the god of lies but she seem to be so sure about trusting Loki that Peter was torn between finding a way to report Loki to the Avengers and just trusting her judgement.

"Alice." Said girl turned and her eyes widen at the site of Sarah walking over to her. "We need to talk. Just the two of us." Sarah then took Alice to an empty room. With the lunch hour only a half hour long Sarah knew she didn't have long to talk. "I'm not taking back what I said. You stop it or I tell." Alice warned. "Must be hard. Hiding your power from everyone around you." Alice's eyes widen and filled with fear. "Wasn't hard to figure out Alice. The fact that you know things no one outside our group knows as well as the headache you got while talking to me and Peter. There was no way you could be anything but a telepath." She clearly wanted to deny it. Sarah didn't need to have her power to know what was going through Alice's mind. "Look Alice you seem to think you know just what it is we do. But in truth just reading our minds on the matter is nothing compared to living it. Now there is something going on in that world and I doubt it is something that can be ignored. No one else knows about it nor do they seem to have the power to do anything about it. So I'm sorry Alice. But given the fact that the danger of leaving that world alone is too great I must refuse your order to stop. I know you just want us to be safe but if we worry only about ourselves other people could get hurt. You know about what happened to Tony, don't you?" Alice nodded. "There's a chance that could happen again. I can't stand by knowing I can do something about this while people are in danger. If you really want us to be safe then please keep our secrets." The bell rang then. Sarah patted Alice's back as she past her to head for her next class.

"You really think she's going to stop just because you asked nicely?" Peter couldn't believe Sarah thought it that easy to solve the Alice problem. "What would you have me do Peter? Threaten her? I did the only thing I could think of with out hurt her. Explain what she clearly doesn't understand about what we do." Peter let out a heavy sigh and glanced over at Alice as she past the two. "I hope you're right then Sarah. I hope you're right."

"Alice right?" A young woman with copper coloured hair stepped out from a book store. "Yeah. Can I help you?" Alice asked her. "I know how it is. You try to tell someone they aren't safe, that they need to look after themselves but they don't listen. Not until it's too late anyway." Alice shifted a little. This woman clearly knew what she had tried to do and that would mean the woman knew of her power. "Sarah thinks she's doing good. That's she's protecting others but we both know she's going to get either hurt or killed. But we can stop her Alice. Show her how wrong she is and get her once and for all to stop." A part of Alice wanted to walk away. But instead of walking she found herself listening to the woman. "How?" The woman smiled brightly and wrapped an arm around Alice. "Walk with me. And I'll tell you everything.

Sarah was torn between glaring at her laptop and sighing in annoyance. He was back. The hacker had contacted her again. Street_Persona had sent only a greeting of "Hello Sarah." But she knew they were waiting. "What do you want now?" Sarah asked. "To warn you." Was the reply. "I got your warning about being careful already." She picked up her tea and took a long slow drink before looking back at the screen. "Alice is in trouble." Sarah bolted forward close to the screen and reread what it said. "What do you mean she's in trouble?" Sarah held her breath, hoping this was just their idea of a joke. "I saw her go with a Persona user who has been to the other world. Alice's mother has tried to report her missing but the police can not do anything until she's been gone for 24 hours. By then, it will be too late. You have to find her Sarah." Sarah picked up her phone and sent a quick text to everyone to meet at the usual place. "Getting the team together now to search for her. If you know where to look please tell me." There was a long pause before he replied. "I can't be for sure. You'll have to speak with someone else to get that answer." The window then closed. "Damn you." Sarah growled before getting up and heading for the elevator. "Going to hang out with Peter and some friends for a few. I'll text if I'm going to be late." Sarah called as she pasted the living room where the Avengers were watching some TV show.

"What do you mean Alice is missing?" Peter asked after being told of the reason for the late call. "Who's Alice?" Akihiko asked. "She's a telepath that found out about us. I guess I should also tell you guys that someone calling themselves Street_Persona has been in touch with me. They know about us and I believe they may be a Persona user. They seem to know what's going on yet don't want to get involved just yet. They seem to know that Alice was seen with this Persona user and they seem to suspect that something has happened to Alice. Her mother has supposedly tried to report her missing." Sarah sighed. "Any idea where she could've ended up?" Yosuke asked. "No. Street_Persona said I'd have to ask someone else about that. Problem is I have no idea who I could asked." Sarah rubbed at her eyes feeling a headache coming on. "Why not ask Loki?" Sarah could only stare at Peter in shock. "Yes I know I was warning you to be careful with him but he is the only one who might have the answers. Wouldn't hurt to try." He pointed out. "Someone mention me?" Loki was seated next to Sarah. "Didn't think you were the come when called type." Sarah joked. "Funny. So Alice is missing is she? How interesting. Things are never dull when they concern you Sarah." He taunted. "Do you or don't you know where Alice is?" Sarah asked. "I'll tell you this much. She's in a very bad place. A place that only a select few know about." Loki then stood, a mocking smile on his lips. "Let's see how bright all of you are." He then disappeared. "So much for his help." Yosuke sighed. "But Yosuke, he told us were to find Alice." All eyes turned to Teddie. "What are you talking about?" Yosuke asked him. "Alice is in the other world." Teddie answered. "What?! How did you come up with that?" Kanji asked. "Loki said Alice is in a bad place that only a few people know about. And before he left he mentioned the word bright. A bright bad place that only a few know about. The Shadow realm." Everyone stared in shock at Teddie as they realized he was right. "Everyone we have to save Alice!" Sarah ordered as she stood.

It was a risky move on Sarah's part. Bringing everyone with her to the other world. But Alice was in danger. And if Alice's Shadow appeared they needed to make sure she would be alright and safe while they did battle against her Shadow. Sarah just had to hope that no Shadows appeared for some time after this mission. "What's that glow up a head?" Mitsuru asked. In the distance Sarah and the others could make out a dark purple glow. "Don't know. But let's hope that's nothing threatening to Alice's life." Akihiko answers. _Hang on Alice. We're coming._


	17. Someone always finds out

Sarah almost missed the fact that Jade, Star, and Zaci had created a shield of dark purple energy around Alice when her eyes landed on the weak Shadows there were trying to get at Alice. There were only 8 Shadows and due to their weak levels they were easily defeated. "Alice are you alright?" Sarah asked as Akihiko helped said person to her feet. "Y-yeah. What were those things?" She was clearly shaken but didn't appear to have a mark on her. "Those were Shadows. Alice what the heck are you doing here?" Peter demanded. "That woman, she said she could help me stop you guys from doing what you've been doing. She took me to that ally and then shoved me through a door." She explained. "When we noticed someone was here that we didn't recognize we raced over and went to open the doorway back to your world. Sadly the Shadows took an interest in her before we could get her out of here." Jade added. "And so we got stuck protecting her till you lot showed up." Zaci added. "Think it was a member of the Order?" Yosuke asked Sarah. "Doubtful there's anyone else it could be." Sarah sighed. She hadn't been expecting this. For the Order to toss someone into the other world and leave them to die. Alice hung her head. "You guys fight those things a lot, don't you?" "There no one else that can Alice. I know you don't understand the danger of this world nor why we have to fight them, but if we didn't then Tony Stark would most likely be dead." Alice looked up in shock at Peter. "This world is connected in a way to each and every person. It's made of our thoughts. But when the bad gets to be too much a strong Shadow is born, and that Shadow can have an effect on the person it came from. Tony's Shadow caused him to pass out in his lab. He was lucky in the sense that he was found and taken care of while we went after his Shadow. But what if we had never gone after it?" Peter asked her. "The report regarding what was happening to Stark's body while the Shadow was at large suggests that the Shadow was feeding off of him. Causing him to become weaker and weaker. In the end his body would've given up and he would've died." Naoto answered. "We don't want to do this Alice. But who else can? You've seen first hand just what we're up against." Mitsuru asked. Alice looked like she was searching for something to convince them that they didn't have to keep doing this but nothing came to her. So with a heavy sigh she gave in. "A-alright. You guys have proven your point. I'll-Sarah behind you!" Sarah twisted around in time to dodge a zio. More Shadows had arrived, 17 as far as they could see. "Sarah the one that attack you has a fire weakness." Sarah looked back at Alice wondering how she knew that. "Let's make this quick everyone. I got a ton of stuff to do back home." Peter called.

"So Alice is a sensor?" Peter asked, mirroring Sarah's confusion. "What that means is that Alice can sense Shadows. She can locate them and warn those she's with." Mitsuru explained. "She's like Teddie and Rise were for our group. Before Teddie started fighting along side us he stayed back and warned us when there was a strong Shadow near by as well as kept track of what was weak or strong against what." Yosuke added. "So then it might not be a bad idea to keep her with us?" Kanji asked. "No! Alice isn't like us, she doesn't have a Persona nor a means to protect herself from harm." Peter had a very good point. Unless they could be sure Alice would be safe there was no way either him or Sarah would let her join. "We can help with that!" Star cheered in some kind of dark princess dress. "How so?" Peter asked. "Well since you clearly didn't see what was in front of your stupid face, we can create a shield to keep her from getting hurt." Zaci answered. Peter looked ready to snap at him but Sarah stopped him. "We could use some help with dealing with Shadows. Since we do tend to get in over our heads." Sarah was of course talking about the times they had been over whelmed by Shadow when aiming for a light work out. "Sarah are you sure about this? They held up good against those Shadows but what if we get swarmed by stronger ones?" Letting out a sigh Sarah turned to him. "Then we run, making sure Alice gets out before us. Peter I don't like this anymore then you do but we have need of her. Please just trust me on this." Peter bit back any argument that was appearing in his head. "Fine Sarah. But I think it's time to get out of here." That she could agree on. "One doorway coming up." Star said as the three began to make the door.

Naoto took Alice home, telling her to tell her mother that she had lost track of time and had a bad cell signal. Sarah was glad the trouble was over. Or so she thought.

"You said you would let us know if you were going to be late! Do you have any idea what time it is?" Pepper snapped as soon as Sarah had cleared the elevator. Any of the Avengers that had been asleep at the time were now standing off to the side watching Sarah getting into trouble. And who could blame Pepper for being mad? Sarah had left at 6:12pm. It was now 2:47am. "I'm sorry Pepper. I-I don't have an excuse for this." There was no way out of this. "You are grounded young lady! For a month. That means no shopping, no hanging out with friends, no nothing! You go to school then come right back here got it." Sarah looked up in shock. She couldn't get grounded for a month. What if a Shadow appeared during that time? What if the Order threw another person into the other world? "Pepper please" She began only to get cut off. "Don't you Pepper please me. This isn't the first time you've been late getting home and I for one am sick of it. Now unless you want to get grounded for two months I suggest" Tony suddenly spoke up. "She did call Pepper." All eyes turned to him as he leaned against the bar. "What? When?" Pepper was sure she hadn't missed any calls. "At 11, she told me she was working on some school thing with Peter and they wanted to get it done and over with." Sarah noticed Tony had his cell out and had typed the words "go with it" it was hidden just enough to keep everyone from noticing but visible enough for Sarah to read. "Well then why didn't she tell me? Why didn't she call me?" Pepper demanded. "Tony's my godfather Pepper. He kind of out ranks you. Besides I didn't say who I'd tell if I was going to be late." Sarah shrugged. Pepper looked between the two, searching for the tell tale signs of a lie. Finding none she gave up. "Fine. Sarah you are not grounded but I expect you to stop staying out so late. And on school nights too!" Pepper then stormed away. All but Sarah, Tony, Clint, and Natasha retreated back to their rooms. "You two do know that we saw right through you, right?" Natasha was wearing a smug smirk. "Gonna start black mailing us?" Tony asked with a raised brow. "No but it would be nice to know what you two are hiding from everyone." Clint voiced. "Not hiding anything. I know nothing about whatever it is Sarah does outside this tower." Tony smirked. The two spies then looked to Sarah. "Alright guys I'll talk. A girl at school named Alice got into some trouble on the streets. Me and Peter went to help her. Things got a little out of hand and we ended up running and getting lost." Clint nodded, accepting the story but Natasha eyed Sarah. "We won't tell Pepper." Was all she said before the two turned and headed for their beds. Sarah turned to Tony. "Want to know the truth?" She asked. He shook his head. "I don't need to know Sarah. Beside the less I know the less trouble I get into when everyone finds out whatever your doing." Sarah laughed and waved goodnight to him.

Sitting in a darkened room before a computer a man smiled at the footage playing. Sarah and her friends, along with Alice were just returning from the other world. "You did good Sarah. But the Order is still out there." He said as he stood. He collected a few cooking magazines before shutting off the computer. "Goodnight Sarah. And ready yourself for the next challenge to come."

Alice wasn't in school the next day, not to the surprise of Sarah and Peter. She had been in the other world long enough to need a few days to recover but she promised to find them the moment she was back on her feet. The only thing for the team to do was rest and relax.

Sarah and Peter had just left homeroom when her phone rang. The idea was unknown to get but she answered it none the less. "Hello?" "Hello Sarah this is James." Sarah had to stop and think a moment before realizing who it was. "James from the Velvet room?" She asked. "Correct. My master has given me permission to give you tasks, or quests if you prefer to complete. For each one you get done I shall give you a reward. The types of quests will give you will be anything from simple requests for items to having you show me a Persona with a certain ability. Some quests will also have a time limit in which you must complete them. However should you fail a timed quest there is no need to worry about being punished for it as I understand that you have more important work to do." Sarah felt this was reasonable. And taking on quests could provide a little amusement as well as a means to push herself just that little bit harder. "Sounds good to me. Alright then, I'm in." "Wonderful. I shall have some quests for you to look over by the time you next come to the Velvet room. Oh, and please note that you may only take on three quests at a time. Have a nice day." The line then went dead. "The velvet room huh?" Turning Sarah blushed at the perverted smirk Lee was giving her. "N-no, it's totally not what it sounds like." She couldn't let anyone think she was hanging out around some strip club or something. "Sure it's not. Don't you worry none Sarah. I won't tell a soul." Lee then sprinted down the hall and Sarah was tempted to go after her. But in the end let it go. After all there were no clubs in the city called the Velvet room. She had checked in case she talked in her sleep about the place.

As Sarah and Peter were leaving the school grounds a young man approached them. He had grey eyes and sliver hair, his face was kind looking yet strong. "Sarah Zwizav?" She eyed him a moment before nodding. "Sorry to just appear like this but I wanted to see for myself just what the new team leader looked like." Sarah sent a confused look to Peter who was glaring at the guy. "Oh sorry, I'm Yu Narukami. I think you might've heard about me." The guy had an embarrassed smile as he said that. "Oh Naoto's boyfriend and the former leader of the Inaba team! I was starting to think I'd never meet you. Oh I don't know if Naoto told you but this is Peter, he's on the team as well." Peter finally relaxed and allowed himself to shake hands with Yu. "I think she mentioned you Peter. Listen Sarah, I'm just here to help you out with a few things. I promise I won't take over the team on you." Sarah shook her head. "That's the last thing I am worrying about right now. My main worries are Alice, Street_Persona, and the Order." Yu frowned. "I've heard of the Order from Naoto but who's Alice and what's Street_Persona?" So Sarah and Peter gave him the quick run down of what had happened the last few days.

"And I thought what we went through in Inaba was rough. Had I known things were this bad Sarah I would've come a lot sooner." Sarah shook her head. "Don't worry about it Yu. I've had a lot of help. A lot more then what you had from what I've heard from Naoto. Besides the only real trouble is with this Order. So no worries." She assured him. "And Alice is alright?" When the pair nodded Yu relaxed a little. "That's good. Though I'm not sure about trusting someone like Loki. From what I've heard he doesn't seem all that interested in stopping the Shadows or the Order." Peter nodded in agreement. "From what Sarah's told us Loki seems only in this for his own personal amusement. I wouldn't put it past him to one day give us false information just to see what we do." Sarah let out a sigh. "Understandable that you feel that way about him Peter. I too remember what he did to the city and take caution when dealing with him. But so far he hasn't given us cause to doubt him now. Yes he is doing this for his own amusement. Yes he seems to enjoy pushing my buttons. But don't forget that when we needed him he came through for us. He told us where to find Alice." Peter snorted. "Yeah but we still had to work it out. Had Teddie not noticed what and how he was saying it we'd never have gotten to Alice in time." "And as for this Street_Persona character I'd be careful if I were you Sarah. For all we know he's part of the Order and testing you. He might even be looking to break you." Both Yu and Peter were right. There was no getting around the fact that Loki had made telling them where Alice was into a guessing game and Sarah herself had wondered if her hacker was from the Order. No matter how she looked at it Sarah was playing with fire on both ends and could only pray to come out unharmed. "That's why I share this information with the team. So long as I keep them up to date on Loki and Street_Persona they can watch me for any signs that one of the two is leading me to any kind of danger. I may be over trusting these two people but it's better then ignoring them. Street_Persona told me that Alice was in danger and Loki gave us the location. True he turned it into a game but we still got to her in time. I'd rather have these two close at hand and risk the dangers they could bring then ignore them and risk them bringing harm we don't see coming." The table was silent as both Yu and Peter chewed over Sarah's words. Yu smiled sadly. "Damned if you do and damned if you don't. It is good that you trust your team to watch for signs but sometimes even they don't notice everything." Sarah nodded in agreement.

That night after dinner (Sarah took pity on the Avengers and cooked for them) Sarah picked up her text book with the intent to study and found herself sitting at a long dinning table in what looked like a castle's dinning room. Sitting at the other end of the table was a hooded figure. "Who are you?" Sarah could feel the figure smile. "You are very clam for someone who's no longer in their room." Was the response she got. "Let's see. I've woken up in the Velvet room a couple times and on a roof top. I really can't be surprised by this anymore." The figure chuckled. "You're worried about the tension between your friends and Loki." Sarah leaned back in her chair and sighed. "Does it show that much?" She wasn't even worried about how this person knew about Loki. "No it doesn't. But just because it doesn't show it doesn't mean it's not there." The figure let out a heavy sigh. "You know how Shadows are made, right?" At Sarah's nod they continued. "Well I fear if you aren't careful you will find yourself with a Shadow of your very own. And I doubt I need to tell you that your friends won't be able to beat it. Even with you there." Sarah looked away from the figure, not wanting to believe their words. "I do not tell you this because it brings me pleasure. If anything I would rather not see any Shadows ever again. But I do not have the power to make that happen." Sarah returned her gaze to the figure. "You know a lot about Shadows." The figure shrugged. "Not as much as you would like. I know that they are born of the dark part humans wish was not inside themselves. I know that in the past something sought to bring about the end of humanity that all in one way or another long for. Outside that I fear I can not be of much help." The figure stood and made their way over to Sarah, placing a pale hand on her shoulder. Sarah tried to look under their hood and see who it was that she was speaking with but all she could see was darkness. "If you do not share you fears and pains with others you too will come to face a Shadow of your very own. The Shadow of a Wild card is by far the most powerful and deadly of them all. It is a force that must not come into either world Sarah. I tell you this to help you. Should you fail to heed my warning I shall not be to blame when the time comes." The hand on the shoulder moved up to Sarah hair where it started to stroke it. "I want to be a friend Sarah. Please let me be your friend." Sarah found herself struggling to keep her eyes open. The hand on her head was causing Sarah to feel relaxed and as a result she was falling asleep. "Do not forget what I have said Sarah. For we shall meet again." Were the final words she heard.

"Sarah? Sarah wake up." Sarah woke to Steve shaking her shoulder. "Wha? Steve? What time is it?" She asked as she sat up and rubbed at her eyes. "It's almost 7. You've got enough time to change quickly and grab something to eat before you have to run out the door for school." Sarah was suddenly wide awake. "WHAT!? Damn it!" Throwing her text book in her bag Sarah ran to her closet, not noticing Steve leaving but she did notice someone else appearing. "I don't have time to mess around Loki. I'm going to be late!" Sarah snapped as she grabbed a decent shirt and went to find some pants. "Partly why I am here. I can get you to your school on time." Sarah stopped and stared at him. "Why?" He shrugged. "Fighting Shadows, rescuing people from the other world, recruiting Persona users to your team. You do all these things yet still find time to work on your studies, spend time with those you care for, and still have time for the things you like to do. I have seen many who, if they were you would slack off on their studies feeling they are entitled to it. So who am I to stand by and let your determination towards your studies go to waste? I'll be waiting in the ally a block from here." With that Loki was gone. Shaking her head Sarah let out a sigh. "Not gonna comment on that."

As he said Loki got Sarah to school just in time for her to reach her class and slide into her seat. "You cut it close." Gwen whispered to her. "Not as close as some." Sarah commented as Peter nearly ran into the teacher who had also just gotten to the class. The two girls held in there giggles as Peter said sorry to the teacher before heading for his seat. "It's going to be one of those days." Peter sighed as he pasted the two.

At break Sarah took a moment at her locker to let her mind go blank. As with the first time it happened Sarah found herself with Philemon. "Welcome back Sarah. I believe you had an interesting night last night." Sarah brow raised at that. "You know about what happened?" Philemon smiled. "I exist within you Sarah. I know what you know." Shaking her head Sarah dropped it. "Well if what they said is true then I need a means in which to know I'm at risk of a Shadow. Anyway to make something like that happen?" Philemon said nothing. merely waved her hand before her and a new menu option appeared. " ? Well that should be easy enough to remember." Selecting it Sarah was a little surprised that by what she saw. It was a level bar ranging from 0 to 10 and right now she was at 4. "I didn't realize I was that bad." She sighed. "Thanks Philemon." Sarah then left.

"Alright I can handle Loki being sort of on our side. I can handle a telepath without a Persona joining our group. I can even handle two machine team members one of which is taking classes in our school. But you speaking to a hooded person about the risk you are at of having your Shadow appear? No, I can't really handle that." Sarah understood why Peter was having trouble with it. Heck she was still having trouble believing it and it happened to her. "So you're at 4 for a Shadow?" Labrys asked. "Yeah. I'm not 100% sure what it is that has me at that point but as soon as I know I'll be sure to put a stop to it." Sarah promised. "Maybe Alice could help you." Peter suggested. "I don't want to bug her about this unless it's a real problem. Besides she has enough to do with us. Last thing any of us should be doing is coming to her to find out what we're denying about ourselves." Truth was Sarah though ok with mutants and even telepaths didn't like the idea of asking someone to go into her mind. It just felt weird to her. Like asking to sleep with someone you just walked up to who's standing with their loved ones. "Well at least Alice don't need any more time to rest." Sarah and Peter turned to Labrys for clarification. "Naoto and I were talkin earlier and she mentioned that Alice had called her. Said she was feeling like herself again and wants to start workin with us tonight if possible." Peter smiled. "Well that's some good news." Sarah and Labrys agreed. "Hey Pete, did ya ever get a weapon?" That was something Sarah was suppose to help him with but hadn't managed to get around to. "Actually yeah, I got that covered." Sarah raised a brow wondering how Peter got a weapon and from where. "I'll show you tonight in the ally." Sarah shook her head with a grin. "Peter do you realize how dirty that sounds?" Her and Labrys laughed as Peter turned red.

That night Sarah had given a carefully constructed cover story to the Avengers before leaving the tower. She was sure that none of them would think she was lying (other then Tony) and that she would be in the clear so long as she didn't stay out past 11. But sadly that was not the case for her. One of them hadn't fallen for the lie and had followed her to the ally. "So Peter, let's see them." That night the team was made up of Sarah, Peter, Yu (who jumped on board the moment he knew what was going on), Labrys, and Kanji. "Alright just a second." Peter dug threw his bag before pulling out a pair of gauntlets. "I figured since I'm good at fight with my hands and feet I should stick to them. These are some well made props from the drama club. They were selling some old stage props and costume pieces to raises some money yesterday." "And your bringing your web shooters too?" Kanji asked. "Web shooters? What are those?" Yu asked. "Ah I guess no one told you. Peter's Spiderman." Yu wasn't the only one shocked by that news. The Avenger that had followed Sarah gasped before covering their mouth. "My web shooters do pretty much what their name suggest. I think they might be helpful in the Other world." "Speaking of the other world. There's the door." Labrys pointed out as it appeared. "You sure you're ready for this Alice. We can wait if you need it." Sarah offered. "No I'll be alright. Wait someone's here!" Before the Avenger could duck out of sight a voice spoke up. "Someone clearly forgot to tell the mind reader about me." It was Loki. "Well we didn't think we'd be seeing you tonight. What are you doing here Loki?" Sarah asked him, shocking the Avenger more. "Well I was planning to continue searching for the Order for you Sarah. Why? Suddenly don't want my help?" He was teasing her. "Loki I doubt I could stop you from helping." Loki patted her head. "You're learning." Brushing away his hand Sarah sighed before turning to the door. "Alright team, let's go." They all entered the Other world.

Once the ally was clear the Avenger walked over to the door and began to reach for the knob before pulling back their hand. "Sarah, what are you up to?" They whispered before their phone rang. "Hello?" They asked after picking up. "Steve where are you? You're missing the movie." Came Tony's voice. "Sorry, running late. I'll be there in a few minutes." He promised before hanging up. "Alright Sarah. I'll bite my tongue for now. But if you get hurt I will find out what's going on behind this door." Steve then turned and started running back to the tower.


	18. Bringing friends to the tower

Alice proved to be good at detecting Shadows, helping the team to avoid large groups as well as Shadows that were stronger then what the group could handle at that time. And the three fairies did a good job at protecting her, even with Zaci's complaining and Loki following them around. "Alright that's enough for one night. Let's get out of here before I have to face Pepper's wrath again." Sarah called to the team before turning to speak with Alice. "You did good tonight Alice. I have a feeling with you around things will go smoothly for us. Jade, Star, Zaci nice job protecting Alice." The three fairies nodded. "You were right Sarah. Things here really aren't what I thought they were just from what I read of your minds. I'm sorry about the trouble I caused before." Sarah shook her head. "That's in the past. Besides had the roles be reversed I'm sure any of us would've done the same. Alice smiled at that. "I think I'll take my leave before I become ill." Sarah sent a glare at Loki. "Just be careful Loki. If there is anything you are denying about yourself you may find yourself at the hands of your own Shadow." Loki smirked. "Come now Sarah, if anyone here has a good understanding of who they truly are it's me. Though it's sweet of you to care." He then left. "Do you really care about him?" Alice asked Sarah, catching her off guard. "What? Care about Loki?" Taking a moment to draw in a breath Sarah stopped and thought about it. "I guess I do. But that's because of the things he's done for us. So far he's done all this because what we do interest him. Or rather entertains him. As long as we have his interest he seems willing to help us. But should the day come when we become boring to him who knows what he might do." Alice shook her head. "Sarah that isn't what I'm asking." She knew what Alice was asking, but wasn't sure what the answer was. Loki annoyed her with the way he seemed to think he could do whatever he wanted when he would visit her, and he seemed to think her anger towards him when he would push it too far was something to laugh about. But there was that one small part of her that took notice of how often he would visit her, how when they were talking about Alice Loki had taken the seat next to her, and how out of everyone on the team she was the one that could get him to do things that he hadn't agreed to when he first offered his help. "I really don't know Alice." But when Sarah looked up at Alice she was smirking. "What?" Sarah was confused, what had she done to make Alice smirk. "You say you don't know, but thinking about Loki is making you blush a lovely shade of pink." Alice pointed out. Sarah realized her face did feel hot and quickly ducked her head. "I won't say anything about the blush. But you should really figure out how you feel about Loki. We won't always be doing this after all."

_Just what do I feel for him?_ Sarah had been thinking about that question since she'd left the ally after saying goodnight to the team. Rolling onto her side she tried to sort out the feelings but it was like trying to mix oil and water. _On one hand he's an annoying god who loves to push my buttons. A god who once tried to enslave humanity with an alien army and yet is now aiding a group of humans in saving it from Shadows._ Rolling back onto her back Sarah sighed. _On the other hand however he has shown he does want to help and has even gone beyond what he agreed to do back when he first agreed to do it. He even helped me get to school on time today._ Sarah suddenly realized she was blushing again and shook her head. "What is wrong with me? The guy's a jerk. He thinks mainly of himself, though he does sometimes give help he doesn't need to do. He thinks he can do whatever he wants! Though with a body like that one can't really blame him for." Sarah cut herself off at that. "Oh my god. I think I'm falling for him!" Sarah then did the one thing that felt right at the time. She picked up her pillow, pressed it to her face and screamed. She was falling in love with Loki. At least that is what it seemed like to her. Removing the pillow she took in a couple gasps of air before claming down. "Ok wait. This might not be love. I might just be lusting for him. I mean he is a very hot guy who any woman and man would want to jump them." Putting the pillow behind her head she laid back down. "Come to think of it I do kind of feel the same about Peter. He is pretty hot as well. Yeah, this isn't love just lust for a hot guy. No reason to get worked up over it." With that settled Sarah rolled to her side and shut off her light. _Just lust. Nothing else._

It was so tempting to Steve to bring up Sarah's connection to Loki with his team but he bit his tongue as he watched Sarah help herself to some pancakes. There wasn't a mark on her so he had no reason to believe she was doing anything too harmful to herself or the group he had seen her with. But then there was the matter of her friend Peter being Spiderman. The Avengers had been trying to work out who Spiderman was for what felt like months and yet it was Sarah and her friends who found the answer. But telling the team about Peter meant letting Sarah know he had followed her last night and there for leading into what he had sworn not to tell just yet. Sometimes Steve hated himself for being a man of his word. "Ok guys I'm off. Got practice after school so I'll be a little late coming home." Sarah's voice snapped Steve out of his thoughts. "Need a pick up?" It was Clint who offered. "No I need to grab a few things on the way back so I think it would be better if I walked it. Later guys." Sarah was off. "She really seems in a good mood this morning." Pepper commented. "Must've been a good dream then." Tony said with a smirk. Everyone just rolled their eyes at him. "Steve what's wrong?" Natasha asked, drawing Steve's attention to her. "Nothing." He answered. He should've known better then to say that to her. "You've been lost in thought since last night. What's bugging you?" She pressed. Sigh Steve set down his fork. "Do any of you know anything about Sarah's friends?" Everyone looked at each other in confusion. "I don't think any of us have met any of Sarah's friends other then Peter. Why?" Bruce asked. "I think we should. I mean Sarah's always disappearing to spend time with them but we only know of one of them. Shouldn't we know more about them?" Steve really wanted to tell them the truth about what is bugging him but he can't. He promised Sarah he wouldn't even if she didn't know he had. "I think Steve's right. When Sarah gets home I'm going to ask her about inviting her friends over." Pepper agreed. "Shouldn't be hard to get them here. After all who doesn't want to meet the Avengers?" Clint joked. Steve stood and placed his plate in the sink before leaving the kitchen for the gym. Train would help him sort himself out. As well as get rid of the temptation to go back to that ally that night and go through the door.

"What?" Asked Mitsuru after the team had gathered at Sarah's request. "When I got back to the tower Pepper cornered me and wouldn't stop asking me to invite my friends over until I had no choice but to say yes." Sarah repeated. "So what are you going to do?" Naoto asked. "Well I can get away with Peter, Teddie, Yosuke, Yu, and Kanji. I'm not sure about the rest of you." Sarah swatted Loki's hand away when he poked her in the shoulder. "Don't forget about me. Or rather Luke Son." Loki reminded as he changed into Luke. "This might not be a good idea Sarah. After all you don't have any girls to bring as well. Who knows what they might think if you bring nothing but guys to the tower." Akihiko pointed out. "What about Lee?" Peter suggested. Sarah turned to Peter. "Right. Lee from my soccer club. And Alice! If I brought Alice over it might be enough to get them to not question me." So it was settled. The next day, after Sarah asked Lee about coming over to the tower the selected people would visit the tower and help her satisfy the Avengers curiosity about her friends.

Sarah was suddenly doubting that she'd made the right choice. Peter and the others would be over in under an hour and she was beginning to fear the worst was about to take place. After all if Loki messes up and saids something Tony and the others would know shouldn't be public knowledge or if Teddie slips up and mentions the Other world the whole thing could go to hell quickly. Sarah also worried that she didn't have enough girls coming over. No. She knew she didn't have enough girls coming over! Alice and Lee. Two girls and six guys? No way is anyone not going to comment on that. Sarah thought about calling up Naoto and begging her to come but she quickly realized that if Naoto was there Tony might comment on her being buddies with a detective. Aigis was out since there was no way in the hell Pepper would take well to Sarah calling a machine a friend. And Labrys was also out since the memory of Sarah's fight with her would still be very fresh in everyone's minds. Mitsuru couldn't come because she had a meeting to attend during the time Sarah had to have her friends at the tower. Needless to say Sarah felt screwed.

Peter and Yu were the first to show up. "Guys I'm sure you remember Peter. This however is Yu Narukami." Yu and Peter shook hands with everyone before Pepper moved them over to the sitting area. _Two down, six more to go._ "So which one of them are you hoping to get laid with?" Tony's question shocked Sarah nearly off her feet. Till she saw the smirk on his face. "Not funny!" She growled as he started laughing. The doors of the elevator opened revealing Kanji and Lee. "SARAH!" Lee all but leapt on said person as she threw her arms around her. "Ugh, hi Lee." Lee was clearly excited to be there. "Does she come with an off switch?" Kanji asked looking a little uncomfortable. "Everyone that's Kanji and this is Lee. Lee let go!" Sarah almost had to pry Lee's arms apart to get her to release her and go join the others. _I hope she doesn't stay like that._ "Kanji? Yu? Where did you find those two?" Clint asked. "They're from Japan. Kanji is from Inaba and Yu. Well actually I have no idea where Yu is from." Sarah realized she knew very little about Yu other then what he told her of his time in Inaba fighting Shadows. "You're friends with him but don't know anything about him?" Steve asked. "We met not that long ago so I don't know everything about him. I know he's dating Naoto, the detective you met back when I was still new here. He's friends with Kanji and two others you'll be meeting today." Sarah then sighed. "You know what just wait till the rest of them get here." Steve wasn't please with that but he let it go.

Teddie, Yosuke, and Alice arrived together leaving only Loki or rather Luke to show up. However that wasn't who stepped off the elevator. "Akihiko? What are you doing here?" Sarah voice had dropped to a whisper since no one seemed to notice he had arrived. "Sorry Sarah but I thought you might need some more friends. Or would that be viewed as weird? You being friends with me when I work for Mitsuru." Akihiko looked a little worried so Sarah cut him a brake. "No I think it'll be fine. Thanks Akihiko, this means a lot to me." The blush that appeared on his face went unnoticed by her as she turned to look back at everyone. "So ugh, anything I should know or not say?" Sarah turned back to him and sighed. "Not really. Loki hasn't shown up yet but other then that I don't think there's anything major you need to worry about." Sarah then turned back to everyone. "Hey guys Akihiko is here." She called. Though it was unexpected Peter, Yu, Teddie, Yosuke, Kanji, and Alice cheered and greeted him. "Go make yourself comfy. I need some air if I'm going to get through this." Sarah then made her way to the elevator. "What should I say if they ask where you went?" He whispered. "Tell them I'm going to look for Luke."

He had the nerve to grin at her when he finally showed up nearly an hour late. "I can't believe you are late! I would've thought that if anyone would be on time it would be you." She growled at him. "Easy Sarah. I have my reasons for being late to this little get together of yours." He assured her. "It had better be good." Loki narrowed his eyes slightly but his grin didn't fade. "Ever hear of a woman named Bella Winters?" When Sarah shook her head his grin changed into a smile. "She's a member of the Order." She had to do a double take. "What? You actually found a member of the Order? Where is this person?" Loki held up a hand. "Right now beyond our reach in the Other world. But I know when she will come back. In three weeks. When she returns to this world we can set a trap for her and question her all you wish. But for now we must wait. After all aren't the Avengers awaiting us?" Sarah wanted to punch him. "Right. Let's get up there and try to act normal. Or as close to it as possible." She sighed.

"Seven guys? She has seven guy friends and only two girl friends? I don't know if I should be worried or not." Tony commented as he stood in the kitchen with Pepper. "Tony if you are suggesting what I think you are about Sarah I will kill you." Pepper warned. "I'm not suggesting anything Pepper. You would think Sarah wouldn't have trouble finding girls to hang out with her. Yet she's sitting there with a bunch of guys she mainly knows because they're friends with someone else she's friends with. Like that Yu guy for starters. He's dating the detective chick and friend with three of the other six guys. As I said I'm not suggesting anything about Sarah. Just worried why there aren't more girls here with her." Pepper let out a small sigh. "Maybe it's because she has trouble making friends within her own gender." She suggested. "I don't follow." Pepper sighed again and turned to Tony. "Some people have trouble talking to other people. Some times that's because they don't know how to act, other times it because they haven't got a clue what to say. But there are those that have trouble talking to other guys if their a guy or other girls if their a girl. Some times it's easier to talk to an opposite rather then someone who's the same as you." Tony nodded but clearly still didn't fully get it. "I'm more worried about Steve." Tony blinked in surprise. "Why, what's wrong with him?" He looked out at Steve who seemed to be having a nice conversation with Akihiko about boxing, if their gestures were anything to go by. "Didn't you notice how after each one of them showed up he seemed to watch them more then Clint. Like he was looking for something." Tony thought on that before shrugging. "The guy's being a protective big brother. Looking at each guy to see if they are good enough for Sarah. Nothing more." Pepper shook her head. "I think it's more then that Tony. I think Steve knows something about those guys and is worried they'll hurt Sarah. It has me worried to be truthful." Tony took Pepper's hands in his and look her in the eyes. "Come on Pepper. Sarah's a strong girl and she has all of us watching out for her." He assured her. "But what about the tracking device in her phone? And that thing you made her when she was out late that one time? Both signals disappeared right off the planet at the same time and when you and Natasha went to see where she was you found an empty ally. I'm sorry Tony but that doesn't comfort me any." Tony nodded. "Yeah I'll admit that worries me a little too. There's no reason the device shouldn't show us where she's been going and there was nothing about that ally that suggested anything out of the ordinary about it." Tony looked thoughtful before smirking. "Could ask the two spies to force the answers from Sarah." Pepper smacked him on the arm for that. "I won't subject her to that just because I'm a little worried." She then sighed. "Just forget it then. Let's get back out there." What Pepper didn't see was the smirk on Tony's face at getting her to stop questioning Sarah's disappearances. Yeah it was bugging him not knowing anything but he had a feeling it was for the best. Whatever Sarah was up too had saved him from whatever it was that happened to him and he was grateful to her for giving him the chance to make things better between them. And for that he would throw off any suspicion and trouble given to her so that she can continue doing whatever it is she is doing. However that didn't mean he wasn't going to question her on why Luke was giving him a knowing smirk. That guy was just plain creepy in Tony's mind. Unlike the rest of Sarah's group who seemed open very friendly and trust worthy.

"So you work at the mall Yosuke's dad manages?" Lee asked Teddie. "Yep, Yosuke got me the job of mascot for Junes. It's hard work but I just grinned and beared it" Yu, Yosuke, and Kanji groaned. "Dude you really need to lay of the bear puns." Yosuke told him. Sarah chuckled at them. "Aren't you a little young to be working Teddie?" Natasha asked. "Nope. I'm 17 years old so it's ok for me to work." "It was nice of you to set him up with a job Yosuke." Pepper commented. "Well I had to help the guy out since we're friends and all. Beside, he's pretty good no matter if it's just attracting attention to a new product or staking shelves. And the customers love his costume." Teddie smile. "A lot of people stop to take a picture with me every day." Sarah was grateful things were going so well. She had been so scared that someone would slip up or do something to draw attention to the group but that wasn't happening. "Oh hey Sarah there's this new shopping show starting up soon that you might want to check out." Yu informed her. "Oh?" Yosuke raised a brow at Yu. "Dude tell me you aren't talking about that guy Tanaka. That stuff is nothing but junk." Yu fixed Yosuke a look. "You weren't saying that back when I shared some of it with you." Yosuke's jaw dropped. "You're telling me you got most of that stuff from Tanaka?" "What stuff?" Clint asked as he crossed his arms. "Tanaka sells a lot of odds and ends. Things like Dokudami Tea and Diet Food. Back when I was still ordering from him there was this set up where you got these stickers with your orders and if you got three you could send them in and they'd send you a free gift." Akihiko let out a small chuckle. "He's still on the air? Tanaka was selling stuff when I was in high school." Yosuke suddenly joined in the conversation. "I don't think anything will stop that guy from selling stuff to people." On that everyone that knew of Tanaka seemed to agree on. "I'll give it a look and see if anything catches my interest." Sarah promised though she had a feeling she would be spending a fair amount on that show.


	19. A new teacher and Tony still won't ask

After confirming the date the shopping show was coming on (Sunday morning at 8) Sarah left the group to begin cooking. There was still a small part of her telling her things were going too good to last so she figured making dinner would help her relax. "So you invite them over just to ignore them?" Loki asked as he leaned on the counter. "I'm a little worried still that something is going to go wrong. So I'm doing one of the things that takes my mind off such things." She explained as she washed some carrots. Loki leaned into her and whispered "I can think of better ways to take your mind off things." before he took the carrot she had just finished washing and took a bite. "Whatever it is the answer is no." Taking the remaining carrots Sarah went to the cutting board and started chopping them up. Until the knife lifted out of her hand and began cutting by it's self. "Are you mad? If anyone walks in here and see that you could get busted!" Sarah growled. "Or I could confess to being a mutant. You worry far too much Sarah." Though he had a point about playing the mutant card Sarah still felt annoyed. "Someone has to make sure no one catches on to what we're doing as well that we each make it through to see the next day. Now stop with the magic or get out of the tower." Loki looked offended for a moment before shrugging. The knife dropped onto the cutting board and Loki left the kitchen. Rolling her eyes Sarah as she went back to cutting the carrots.

Making sure Jarvis would alert her when the food was done cooking Sarah went back and joined the group. "Never been to Inaba." Tony said in response to whatever the conversation was about. "Well it's not very interesting. But the hot spring at the Amagi inn is worth a trip." Yosuke pointed out. "Might have to check it out then. What you say Pepper?" Tony nudged Pepper. "We'll see Tony. Don't forget about Sarah." Everyone looked over at her causing her to shrug. "I won't stand in you way if the two of you want to disappear for a while for some alone time. I can handle things without you." Then as an after thought Sarah added. "Besides, not like the tower would be empty. I still have these guys to hang out with." She waved her hand at the remaining Avengers. "If there does come a time when Sarah's alone here she could always come stay at my place." Lee offered. "Hey what smells good?" Teddie asked as he sniffed at the air. "Oh I thought everyone might be getting hungry so I've got home made stew cooking." Yu smiled. "You cook as well? We're more alike then I thought Sarah." "Sarah's cooking is amazing. You guys are in for a treat." Loki/Luke informed the team. "When did Sarah cook for you Luke?" Pepper asked. Sarah was wondering that too. "Oh I stole a little bite of her food when she wasn't looking once. I couldn't help it. The smell was so tempting." He sent a grin Sarah's way, to which she just rolled her eyes at him. "It should be ready in a bit." She assured everyone.

Sarah was grateful she had made so much stew for everyone went back for seconds and thirds. "Wow. I didn't think anyone's cooking could come close to yours Partner but Sarah's is dead even." Yosuke said as he leaned back in his seat. "I'm so full. I don't think I can move." Teddie sighed happily. Sarah blushed and looked at the ground. "I'm glad you guys liked my cooking so much." Everyone was happy, full, and most important of all getting along. Even Steve seemed to have loosened up around the team. "As much as I'd like to stay longer I promised my dad I'd be home by 8." Alice sighed as she stood. "Yeah Teddie and I should get home too." Yosuke stood with a groan. One by one everyone Sarah had invited over began to get up and head for the elevator. "Well it was great meeting all of you. Please come back any time." Pepper said as she shook each of their hands. "It was really nice meeting all of you. Thanks for having us over." Yu then threw Sarah a smile before joining Alice, Akihiko, Yosuke, and a sleepy Teddie in the elevator. "Peter I hope you'll come back soon. I really want to finish our talk." Bruce had been talking science with Peter for almost the entire time. "Sure thing Bruce. It was great talking with you." Peter then got on the elevator with Lee and Luke following after him. "See you guys later." Sarah said as the doors of the elevator shut. "Nice friends you have there Sarah." Tony commented as he turned and went back to his chair. "You should invite them over again soon." Thor suggested. "I might just do that." Sarah laughed. "Oh. Lee forgot her bag." Pepper was holding Lee's backpack. "I'll take it to her." Sarah took the bag from Pepper and got on the second elevator.

"Lee!" Said person turned at the sound of her name and saw Sarah. "Sarah? What's up?" Lee asked. "You left this." Lee appeared shocked when Sarah handed her her bag. "Oh shot. Thanks Sarah. Sorry for making you run all this way." Sarah waved it off. "It was nothing." Lee smiled at Sarah but there was something in her eyes that went unnoticed by Sarah. "So I'll see you at school. Don't forget we have practice." Lee then turned and went on walking. Shrugging Sarah turned and headed back to the tower.

At school Sarah and Peter found they had a new teacher for history. Due in large part to their last teacher being pregnant and just starting maternity leave. "Alright everyone if you please sit down we can being." Their new teacher was male in his early 20s with short blue hair and eyes. He gave off this air about him that commanded respect yet made one feel welcome. Everyone took their seats and gave him their full attention. "Thank you. I'm Minato Arisato. Or Mr. Arisato if you prefer. For those of you wondering yes I am from Japan. Tatsumi Port Island to be exact and I shall be taking over your history lessons while your former teacher has her baby. Should you have any trouble following my lessons or you need help with something in this called you can come to me and I will help you with it. Also if you want to talk about any problems you have I will listen and offer whatever help I might be able to give you. I know a lot of you don't like talking to teachers about your personal lives but I'm sure you'll find me easier to talk to then any of them and there for I hope you will take advantage of my time here." Sarah barely heard a word he said. The moment he introduce himself as Minato Arisato it took everything in her not to fall off her seat. _Arisato? As in Minako Arisato? Naoto didn't say anything about her having a brother. Did Akihiko know about this? No wait. I should check with Mr. Arisato before I go talking to anyone else about this._

"A sister? You want to know if I had a sister?" Mr Arisato asked. Sarah nodded. "Well I did once have a twin sister. Her name was Minako." He sighed. "She didn't happen to die after her first year of high school, did she." His eyes widen. "How'd you know?" Sarah rubbed the back of her neck. "I know someone who went to school with her. He even dated her for the year they knew each other. Sorry about bringing this up Mr. Arisato but it was bugging me." Mr. Arisato waved it off. "Don't worry about it. It happened a long time ago and I barely even knew my sister. We were separated after the death of our parents. I had no idea she was even back in the city till I was told of her death. Anyway you should get yourself to your next class." With a nod Sarah left the classroom. _I wonder if anyone else knows about him. Could he also be a Persona User? Is this power something that can be shared between twins? If so, that could make him a Wild card just like me and Yu._ "Sarah I'm getting a headache." Sarah turned and found Alice walking with her. "Sorry Alice. Just have a lot on my mind right now." Alice chuckled. "So I can heard." She joked. Sarah let herself laugh. "Worry about Persona stuff outside school Sarah. If your grades slip Pepper might take action to ensure you get them back up and even better then before." Alice made a very good point. "Sorry Alice. Just can't keep my mind from drifting to the Other world and what the Shadows are up to." The bell ringing made the two go their separate ways.

"What?!" Mitsuru and Akihiko were both in shock after hearing of Sarah's new teacher. "Minako never said anything about having a twin brother." Akihiko mumbled, looking like he was wondering about any other secrets his late girlfriend hid from him. "The two were separated after their parents died and I don't think either knew the other was living in the same city. Mr. Arisato told me that he had no idea Minako had been living there till he learned of her death." Both Mitsuru and Akihiko appeared to be in deep thought. "Wait, I think I remember a guy like what you described at her funeral." Akihiko didn't look for sure but he did seem to be sort of sure. "Do you think there's a chance he's like us?" Sarah looked to each of her team members, even the dogs. But everyone looked uncertain. "There's no way to know for sure with out forcing him into the Other world. And I think we can all agree that is not an option." Yu sighed. "Akihiko and I will speak with this Minato Arisato. Thank you for bringing him to our attention Sarah." Both Mitsuru and Akihiko stood and left. "Guess that ends the meeting. I'll see you guys later." Kanji then left. Slowly everyone left one by one leaving Sarah sitting in the room alone. "Great. They seem to be more upset by this news then I had feared they would be. I'll have to do something to improve everyone's moods." Standing Sarah collected her bag and left for the tower.

With her homework finished Sarah stretched out on her bed with a sigh. She had nothing to do and that meant she was sinking into her thoughts. Thoughts about Shadows and the Other world. Thoughts about the Order. About her team and the Avengers. About what could happen if they get caught. If they failed to save someone from their Shadow. "Sarah?" Opening her eyes Sarah sat up and noticed Pepper standing in her doorway looking worried. "Is everything alright Sarah? I called your name three times but you didn't seem to hear me." Sarah forced herself to smile. "Just daydreaming. Did you want something?" She was sure Pepper had seen through her lie so had to get her off the subject. "Sarah, you know you can talk to me if something is bothering you." Looking away Sarah let out a small sigh. _Trust Pepper to push the matter._ "I'm just having some trouble sorting out my head. Nothing for you to worry about." She brushed off. Sarah felt the bed dip a little and realized Pepper felt the need to help. "What are you having trouble sorting out?" Sarah bit her lip in thought while glancing at Pepper out the corner of her eye. "I just." Sarah had no idea what to tell her. On one hand she could say it was school problem but Pepper would check with the school to see what she could do to help and find out Sarah lied to her. On the other hand Sarah could say she was having friend trouble. But Pepper would check with Sarah every day to see if the problem had been solved. "I just don't understand my feelings towards Luke." Sarah was praying Loki wasn't listening in. "Oh? Well what goes through your head when you think of him?" Sarah clenched her fists. "The guy's a jerk with no care for boundaries. He loves to push my buttons and seemed to get off on making me mad." Sarah snapped then sighed heavily. "But then he turns around and shows some concern for me. That one day I was going to be late he showed up and got me to class on time. He tries to help me when I need it but he thinks he can do anything he wants with out caring what other people think or what happens to others involved. I know there's good in him. But he just doesn't seem to care for his action." Sarah turned to Pepper to see what she would say. "Well he does sound a bit like a jerk." Sarah smiled, glad she wasn't the only one to think so. "In fact I'd say he sounds a lot like Tony." Sarah did a double take. "What? Like Tony?" Pepper chuckled. "Luke sounds like Tony did back before he was kidnapped. Trust me on this Sarah I've known Tony a long time and Luke sounds just like him." Sarah had to fight back the need to laugh. _What would Tony and Loki say to that I wonder?_ "You said he's concerned for you? And he's helped you?" When Sarah nodded Pepper smiled. "Sounds like Luke cares for you Sarah. And if I had to guess I'd say you care for him too." Sarah snorted. "Don't be silly Pepper. The guy's a pain." Standing Sarah began to talk to her desk. "Then why are you friends with him? Why stick with him?" Pepper's question made her freeze. _Because he helps out with the team every now and then. Because he's looking into the Order for us. Because I couldn't stop him even if I tried._ "Why does it feel like I'm trying to convince myself?" Sarah whispered. "What was that?" Turning to Pepper Sarah shrugged. "Don't know." Pepper went to say more but Tony popped his head into the room. "Need to steal Pepper from you Sarah." Sarah waved her hand, telling him it was fine. As Pepper left she called over her shoulder. "Think about it Sarah. If you don't like him that way and he is as bad as you say he is why are you friends with him?" Sighing as the door closed Sarah turned to her mirror. "That's what I want to know. " She mumbled.

After pushing all thoughts of Loki to the back of her mind Sarah turned her thoughts to the low mood of her team when the last meeting had ended. They needed a pick me up but Sarah wasn't sure what would be the best way to do it. She toyed with the idea of a party for a while before setting it aside as a possible option. She then turned her thoughts to taking the team to a concert, but that got cut short when she realized she didn't have any clue what anyone liked. The movies were an option till Sarah realized once again she didn't know who liked what. Each idea got shot down till Sarah was left with the only one standing. A party.

"You want to have a party?" Tony asked. "Some of my friends are having a bad week and I want to cheer them up. Figured a party would be good for them. Though I kind of want it to be just me and my friends, if that's ok?" Sarah rubbed at the back of her neck nervously. "Ok. I can look into booking you guys a place to have the party and see about catering it. Give me a few days." Relieved to hear that Sarah smiled. "Thanks Tony. I owe you one." Tony shook his head. "Invite me to the next party." Sarah laughed. "Deal." Then turned and walked out of the lab. "Odd. Sarah's friends didn't seem to be having any trouble when we met them yesterday. Wonder what happened." Bruce said as he looked up from his work. "Good question. But I'm not interested." Tony shrugged. Bruce chuckled. "You and I both know it's killing you not knowing what Sarah is up to. Why not just ask her?" Tony stared at Bruce for a while. "Because I promised I wouldn't. Whatever Sarah's doing is clearly important to her so I'm not going to go digging into it." Collecting a few folders Bruce walked past Tony saying, "The one time you respect someone's privacy is the one time you shouldn't." before filing away the folds and returning to his seat. "Maybe so. But I owe her that privacy." He mumbled before fishing out his phone.


	20. Fears come to pass

It was Loki who informed the team about the new victim through into the other world. He was also kind enough to give the team detailed information about the poor guy. "So we are looking for Kane Alban. 22 years old, brown shoulder length hair, hazel eyes, x shaped scar over his left eye brow. He was wearing a grey suit when last seen." Sarah read off the paper Loki had given her. The team was Peter, Akihiko, Teddie, Yu, and Alice. "Do we know for sure he's missing?" Akihiko asked. "I called up his place after getting Jarvis to get the number for me. His wife said she hadn't seen him since this morning and he never stays out late with out first telling her. She's 8 months pregnant." Sarah sighed. "Ok then, let's get in there and find the guy." Alice turned to the door and went through followed by the team.

Steve had once again followed Sarah and listened in on what had been said. "She's looking for a missing man in there? I don't understand." He chewed over going in after her but once more turned away. "She hasn't given any reason not to trust her. She's never come back badly hurt and all her friends seemed to be willingly part taking in what ever it is that goes on behind that door.." He let out a heavy sigh. "She does lie about where she's going. No. I made a promise and I'm going to keep it. For now at least." He then head out to the street and started walking back to the tower.

Sarah and her team were panting, sweat dripping from their foreheads. "Well, that was a work out." Akihiko laughed slightly bitterly. Looking over her team Sarah noticed Teddie had multiple rips along his bear suit, Peter was bleeding from the right shoulder, Yu was clearly trying to stay off his right left as much as possible, and Akihiko looked to be in some pain. Sarah chewed over the risks of heading back for the night or continuing on ward. The team clearly needed to rest, something they couldn't do in that world. They also needed time to heal and gain stronger gear since what they had now clearly wasn't holding up as well as they needed. However they had no idea if Mr. Alban would be alright on his own or if he was at risk of facing his Shadow. Taking a deep breath Sarah said the one thing that she knew no one wanted to hear. "We're heading back." All eyes snapped to her and the protesting was about to start. "No arguing. We're all in need of rest and each of us needs to treat the wounds we have now. Alice, how's Mr. Alban? Can you tell from here?" Alice shut her eyes and focused. "He seems annoyed by this place and worried if his wife is ok. Other then that I am not noticing anything that would suggest he is in any real danger at this time." Alice then opened her eyes and smiled at Sarah. "It would appear that we can afford to take time to recover." Sarah nodded at that. "But if we leave now we'll just have to fight our way back up here again. And it wasn't easy the first time around." Peter groaned. "Not true." Jade said before flying over to an odd looking stone. It was grey like a normal stone but had vines growing out of it's top. Jade tapped the stone and the team watched as purple leaves spouted from the vines. "This is a marker. From the entrance we can use our powers to jump us all right to this point any time." She explained.

Sarah was glad the cuts she'd picked up were hidden under her jacket, allowing her to walk through the living area to her room with no one batting an eye at her. In her room however she found herself having some trouble dressing the wounds on her back. "Shall I ask Dr. Banner to aid you?" Jarvis asked. "No Jarvis. I'll be fine." She nearly jumped when a cool hand took the cotton ball from her hand and dabbed one of the wounds with it. "I take it tonight didn't go so smoothly." It wasn't a question. Loki was stating a fact. "The Shadows were a lot stronger then we had planned for. Yu's leg was hurt so he'll be out of it for a while, Akihiko may have cracked ribs so he's out for now as well, Peter's shoulder was bleeding but that seemed to be the worst of it for him. Teddie's suit was ripped so he needs time to get it fixed. And we all ran out of steam." Sarah sighed as she pasted back a bandage. "Well at least they aren't the only ones you can call upon." After fixing the bandage Loki got a fresh cotton ball and began cleaning the next would. "I could use magic on these." He offered. Sarah shook her head. She knew he wouldn't make that offer to the rest of her team so if they had to suffer then she would suffer too. "Any new information regarding the Order?" Loki sighed, his breath hitting her bare back sending slight tingles along her spine. "Sadly no. After learning of Ms. Winters I seemed to lose whatever trail I had been following. They are good, I'll give them that much." Annoyed was the best word to sum up Sarah's mood at that point. The only had one possible Order member that they knew of and she wasn't going to be returning from the Other world for some time. They needed more information on this enemy and yet there was hardly any to be found. "Just give it time Sarah. You cause enough trouble for them they will slip up and deliver themselves to you on a platter." He assured her as he placed the last bandage on her back. "Not soon enough." Sarah turned to him and just sat staring into his eyes for a while. "Is this your way at hinting for a kiss?" He teased. "You're not my type." Standing Sarah moved to her dresser to remove her pjs. "And just what is your type?" Glancing back at him through her mirror she raised a brow. "You are beginning to sound like you want it to be you Loki. Are you perhaps falling for me?" The way he went from grinning to glaring at her almost mad Sarah laugh. "You hardly even have the appeal of a milk maid." He growled before disappearing. "So you say Loki. But I'm pretty sure you were blushing just now."

Street_Persona pushed away his blinds and looked up at the night sky. The moon was full that night and seemed to bring with it a sense of clam through out the city. Though it wasn't like the moon could cause crime to stop. He listened to the sound of sirens in the distances as he kept his eyes on the moon. "I wonder if your soul watches from the moon Minako. If so I hope you can give Sarah some help. She may have done well to get to this point but it's only going to get harder from here on out. So if you are there, do what you can for her."

Sarah was in school when Naoto called her. It took all of Sarah's will power not to crumble in shock on the floor. She had quickly ordered Peter, Alice, and Labrys to meet her outside. They knew from her face the news was bad so they braced themselves. "Naoto just called." She began, trying to fight back the guilt. "They found a body along the docks this morning. It's Mr. Alban." The shock that hit the group could almost be felt as they each first looked at each other then the ground. "Damn it! I thought we had more time." Peter growled. "I don't understand. He was fine when we left. W-what changed?" Alice was close to tears. "His wife about ta pop and now she ain't got a husband to help raise the kid." Labrys mumbled. Out of the four of them Sarah was feeling this blow the most. For it was her order to pull out that left Mr. Alban to his death.

When the report hit the news about the death of Kane Alban Steve had turned to go demand answers from Sarah. But when he saw he getting out of the elevator looking like she was on the verge of breaking down in tears he found he could do nothing but watch her as she walked slowly to her room. He remembered how she had been talking about the man before her and her friends went through the strange door. They had been trying to rescue him the other night and she had clearly heard of his death before reaching the tower. _That was guilt in her eyes. Sarah, this isn't the kind of thing you and your friends should be trying to do. You're not ready to handle times when you fail like that. I'm sorry Sarah. But you leave me no other option._

Loki had come to see her but left shortly after when he realized she wasn't noticing him at all. He left her some chocolate and a small note to try to cheer her up, though he doubted it would. She barely touched the plate Pepper had brought her, wouldn't answer any questions from anyone. She just lay there, hating herself for failing to save Mr. Alban. Her team had left messages on her voice mail and emails trying to reach her. But she was more or less dead to the world. The one thing she feared happening had happened to them. They now had a body hanging over the team, blood on their hands and nothing anyone could say or do would ever change that. "I'm sorry." She whispered as the tears she had been holding back broke free.

Sarah had barely gotten any sleep. It was only when Bruce, finally going to bed at 3:52 am found her crying so much that he found himself with no choice but to sedated her that she got any rest. That morning, a Saturday she walked lifelessly to the kitchen island. Not because she was hungry, but because her body was so use to it. She didn't even notice the plate of scrambled eggs Clint placed before her. "What's wrong with Sarah?" Tony asked as he moved to her side and lightly shook her, trying to get a reaction. "I don't know. She was so upset when I went to bed I gave her a sedative but she wouldn't tell me anything." Bruce was concerned. He had seen Sarah upset about a few things but he could work out just what would cause such a reaction from her. "I tried talking to her last night when I noticed she hadn't eaten much but she would say anything." Pepper had clearly lost some sleep over Sarah's behaviour. "Maybe something happened yesterday. Where's Steve? Maybe he'll know." Natasha suggested. "I called him last night when he took off and he said he need to check something at the docks. He never returned and Jarvis can't get a hold of him." Tony answered. Sarah just sat there staring at the island, letting the conversation wash over her. Suddenly she stood up, her stool banging against the ground as it was knocked over. "The docks?!" She asked after whipping around to stare at Tony. "Yeah he went there last night. Sarah what's going on?" She ignored Tony's question and ran back to her room to throw on some clothes before bolting out of the tower.

Loki found himself pinned to a brick wall by a puffy red eyed Sarah who looked like she was possessed. "I'm going to ask this once Loki, and I want to know the truth. Was Steve aware of what we were doing? Of the door at the docks we were going through?" Her voice was weak from crying the night before but he could her rage, fear, and a silent plea that the answer wasn't what she thought it would be. "Yes. He followed you the night Alice first when with you to the other world." Telling her that shouldn't have bothered him. But some how the answer had felt like a ten tone weight. Sarah let go of Loki and backed away to the other wall. A fresh wave of tears crawling down her cheeks. "No. No he can't have gone there. NO!" Her legs gave out on her and it was only thanks to Loki that she didn't hit the dirty cement of the ally they were in. Loki didn't know what to do. Any other time he could easily get a person to stop crying. But today he found himself unable to think of anything to help Sarah. So he held her as she cried into his chest. "Loki?" Said person's head snapped up to find Tony staring down at them. "Stark." Loki opened and closed his mouth a few times before pulling together what little of himself he could at the time. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions as well as an urge to call Thor and the rest of your group. But first we should tend to Sarah, don't you think?" The site of the very god that had thrown him out of the window of his own tower not only sitting on the ground before him but also holding his crying god daughter left Tony's mind reeling.


	21. Steve in the Other world

After Tony checked them into a near by hotel (Loki using his Luke form) Loki had placed Sarah on the bed and cast a light sleep spell over her before sitting down with Tony, who quickly demanded an explanation. Loki gave in and told him everything he knew about Sarah and her team (leaving out Peter being Spiderman). About the Other world and the Order. Shadows and Personas. By the end of the explanation Tony had cleared the mini fridge and had ordered half a bar from room service.

"I was right. I was better off not knowing." Tony sighed as he glanced over at Sarah. "How much longer will she stay asleep?" He asked as he turned back to Loki. "Another hour at most. I can wake her now if you want." He offered. "No. Let her sleep." As much as his mind screamed at him not to trust Loki with Sarah Tony couldn't help but look at how long the two had been around each other. After all Loki had confessed to being Sarah's friend Luke Son and judging by the way Sarah had been holding onto him when Tony had found the two he doubted Sarah hadn't known it was Loki the whole time. "I knew it was Sarah who helped me when I passed out a while back but to hear about the other things she's been doing. I can't believe she hid all of that from us." Loki smirked at Tony a little. "As I recall Sarah wasn't the only one in that tower keeping everyone from finding out what she was up to." He was right. Tony had helped Sarah by lying to everyone or saying something to get them off the track they had been on. "So what made Sarah cry this time?" Tony needed to change the subject before his thoughts on it get out of hand. "I fear your friend the Captain may have gone to the Other world after seeing the state Sarah was in after learning the man her team had been trying to save was found dead the other morning." "Steve's gone to that world!?" Tony couldn't believe Steve would do something so stupid as that with out bringing back up. "Why didn't you tell Sarah the other night?" It was only because Loki hadn't given him reason to yet that Tony wasn't trying to attack him. "You saw how she was last night. Even if I had told her she was too lost in her own guilt to hear anything being said to her. Besides, by the time I found out the door to that world was gone. It didn't matter if I told her or not since she wouldn't have been able to reach that world until tonight. I would only have added to her pain thus most likely rendering her unable to go after him tonight." Tony leaned back and thought hard about everything. "So this door only appears at a set time in this ally near the docks and it stays there for a set time before vanishing? Am I right?" Loki nodded. "How long do you think Steve has in that world before he ends up like that Alban guy?" Loki thought for a moment before shrugging. "That's one thing Sarah and her group never figured out. Could be days, hours, who knows? They try to get to them before they've been in that world too long but the last time. They faced Shadows far stronger then they were use to. A Shadow isn't like a mortal. It takes far more power to defeat one Shadow then it would to best someone like you as you are now. But like with your team it seems Shadows come in many different power levels. And only those with Personas, like Sarah can take them down." Tony sighed, that wasn't what he had been hoping for. "I guess it more or less depends on the Captain. If there is something he is denying about him self he could find himself face to face with a Shadow of his very own." That made Tony worry. Given the time Steve grew up in Tony knew there was a lot of stuff Steve refused to talk about as well as things the guy would just push to the side. He was seeing a therapist in hopes of dealing with things like that but from what Tony had heard it was a slow process. "Just had to go it alone didn't you Steve. And you say I'm reckless." Tony sighed.

When Sarah woke up she barely even flinched at the site of Tony sitting with Loki. She went straight to working out how to save Steve before he ended up like Alban. "Yu is out of the question given his leg, as is Akihiko cause of his ribs. Peter is still good so he'll be able to come. Mitsuru may have to be called in to provide aid. Maybe Yosuke could help out as well." Sarah was pacing before the two men as she tried to plan out the rescue team. "Don't forget about the two machines Sarah." Loki reminded her. "Right, Aigis and Labrys. I'll bring them for sure. And Alice. With any luck she'll be able to track Steve down. Loki I want you there as well." "WHAT?" Tony couldn't believe she was asking him to go with her. "If Steve does have a Shadow Loki can move Steve to the safety of the shield the fairies create around Alice. Besides Loki has been to the other world so he is use to the effect it can have on the body." Though he wanted to argue back Tony could see why she wanted Loki there. Alice would have to focus on monitoring the battle as well as each person with them, and the rest of them would have to focus on the Shadows. _Just like her mother. Sarah can talk a person into working with the devil if she so wanted to._ Tony mused. "Loki go inform the team of what's happened as well as what is needed of each of them. If anyone argues tell them the matter is not up for debate." Loki gave a short nod before disappearing. "Anything I can do to help?" Tony asked. Sarah looked at him in though for a moment. "We could use better protection in that world. Got any armour we might be able to have?"

"What's this I heard about Captain America being in the Other world?" Mitsuru demanded. "Sorry guys but it seems for all the care we took trying to keep the world from finding out about this he still found out." "Ok, but what's he doing here?" Yosuke asked as he pointed at Tony. "Hey don't treat me like the bad guy here. After all you're the ones working with Loki." Tony pointed out before adding. "Besides I brought you guys these." Tony then began remove some chest armour from a bag. "Whoa? Where'd you get these?" Peter asked as he took note of the strength of the metal. "They were going to be parts for my suits but changes in plans made them junk to be melted down for something else. Good thing I never got around to it." "You can talk all you want later. Right now Steve's in there and we have no way of know if he's alone or not." Sarah growled at them. "I may not know the Captain as well as some of you but I think he at least would be able to ignore his Shadow for a while." Loki shrugged. "That depends on what it saids." Mitsuru pointed out. "Regardless we need to get to him. Aigis, Labrys are you both ready for this?" The two nodded to Sarah. "Alright then. Tony get back to the tower and figure out a way to keep the others from looking for Steve. Everyone else follow me." Sarah then lead her team, plus Loki through the door. Tony let out a heavy sigh. "Sarah I hope you're as good a leader in there as you appear to be out here." Tony then turned and started for his car, his mind turning over what he could say as a possible reason for Steve still being missing.

With her eyes shut Alice began scanning for Steve while the others waited close by. Loki leaned in a little and dropped his voice to a whisper. "This isn't your fault Sarah." Said person sighed before turning to him. "How is it not my fault? He had to have followed me here in order to find out about this place so it is my fault." She growled. "You can't help what other people do. That kind of power is beyond your reach." _He does have a point. If it wasn't Steve it would've been Clint or Natasha. Maybe even Pepper. But that still doesn't forgive the fact that I didn't see him following me. That I wasn't careful enough. I can't let Steve down. I won't fail this time._ "I've got a lock on him." Alice called, breaking Sarah of her thoughts. "He's in the same area Mr. Alban had been in and from what I can tell he's alone and unharmed." Everyone was able to breathe a little bit easier with that news. No Shadow Steve, no Order members, and he was safe. For now at least. "Alright let's get back to that area and get to him before anything else. Move!" Sarah ordered.

Steve was leaning against a stone column panting. He couldn't remember a time in his life when he felt as drained as he did right then. "How does Sarah spend hours in a place like this?" He wondered out loud. From the corner of his eye Steve could see four strange looking bird hovering just down the hall to his right. So far all the weird beasts had ignored him, even when he got within a few feet of them. He'd once thought about reaching out and touching the strange lion with a ball and chain but had stepped away from it quickly when he remembered that something in that place had killed a man. Taking a breath Steve pushed himself up right and started walking. He had barely reached the birds when a person appeared before him. They were male holding a large sword in their left hand and in the right a gun, which was pointed at the guy's own head. "Wai-" Steve called but was cut off when the guy suddenly shouted, "Trismegistus!" and pulled the trigger. But rather then his skull blowing up like it should've Steve watched as a strange looking man...beast? Steve wasn't sure what to call it but it appeared over the guy and with in seconds of it's appearance the bird were ignited and destroyed. "Ha! Still got it!" The guy cheered before turning and jumping at the site of Steve. The thing above him vanishing. "WHAO! Where the hell did you come from?" The guy asked. "I could as you the same question." The guy had to be in his early 20s, with dark almost blue hair and a goatee. "Fair enough I guess. Name's Junpei." The guy, Junpei held out his hand after putting away his gun. Steve took the offered hand. "Steve. What was that thing." Steve asked using his free hand to wave above Junpei. "Huh? Oh! That was my Persona." The way Junpei shrugged it off suggested to Steve that it wasn't the first time he'd used such a power before. Junpei glanced around himself before signing. "Man, Mitsuru and Akihiko weren't lying about this place. Hope we run into the fairies they told me about before we get in real trouble." For a second Steve had no idea what he was talking about. "Wait, do you mean Mitsuru Kirijo and Akihiko Sanada?" Junpei smiled at Steve. "Ah you've met them have ya? Been a while since I've seen either of them what with their jobs and all that but they called me up a while ago and left some information about this place and the things going on here. I tried to come sooner when I heard they were working with some chick called Sarah but that didn't work out how I'd hoped it would've." Steve was shocked. "You mean to tell me those two are in on this as well?" Junpei looked Steve over with a raised brow before something seemed to click in his head. "Shit! You aren't a part of their group are you? Oh man!" Sigh Junpei looked to the ground for a few minutes. "I guess it doesn't matter right now what you know. Main thing right now is getting out of here. Cause you sure ain't looking so hot. Come to think about it I'm getting a little tired myself." Junpei wiped some sweat from his brow before walking past Steve. "I might not know what way is out but if we stick together I'm sure we'll find it." With little other choice and a hope for more answers Steve followed Junpei.

"Wait!" Alice shouted to the team as she came to a dead stop and shut her eyes. Everyone waited in tense silence for Alice to finish what she was doing. Opening her eyes Alice appeared to be confused. "What's wrong?" Mitsuru asked. "It's Steve. I'm sensing someone with him but I can't tell who they are." Everyone looked at each other in confusion. "Loki did anyone get thrown in here before we arrived?" Peter asked. "If they did it wasn't through the door I know of." Was the answer. "So they weren't thrown in? Or they were just through a different door?" Yosuke asked. "Doesn't matter. We now have two people to save." Peter was clearly not in love with this idea. "Easy everyone, don't get yourselves overly worked up by this. Alice said this person is with Steve. As long as they stay together we can save them both. So let's just keep moving." Sarah didn't need her team freaking out over an extra person in that world. "Agreed. Let us return to our search." Aigis said. With a nod from everyone the team got back to work, the new armour from Tony working like a dream compared to the old armour they had.

"Tony where is Steve and more importantly where is Sarah?" Tony was being given the look from Pepper as the rest of the Avengers watched on to see what his answer would be. "Sarah's with friends and I'm not sure where the Capsicle is." Tony shrugged. "Tony don't lie to me!" Pepper growled, she had seen him leaving the lab with a bag full of something and just under and hour ago he returned with the bag empty. "I'm not lying." Clint and Natasha shared a look that Tony realized meant he wasn't fooling anyone so with a drawn out sigh Tony took a seat. "Alright, you win. I'll tell the truth." And Tony more or less told them everything. But he twisted as much of it as he could to make the story sound even less believable. Not that he needed to twist much of it.

"So Steve and Sarah along with some other people have gone to another world to fight these Shadows with Loki helping them?" Bruce summed up. "Yeah." Tony nodded looking as relieved as he could. "So Sarah's with friends then and Steve's most likely at his gym with his phone off." Clint sighed. "Tony if you're going to lie to me at least make it believable." Pepper sighed as she headed for the kitchen. Slowly the others left the room until it was just Tony left. He laughed as quietly as he could. "I think that was my best tale yet." He then got up and poured himself a drink.

Steve was trying to wrap his head around everything Junpei had told him. After continually asking for answers Junpei had broken down and told Steve the whole story of the events that happened to his group a few years back. "So then Sarah's going through the same thing?" Steve felt a little bad now. There he had been thinking Sarah was trying to be something she wasn't ready for but in truth she didn't have a choice in the matter. No, she did have a choice. Fight or let people die. Sarah had chosen the same choice Steve would had it been him. "Something like that yeah. But unlike my group Sarah's got some veterans working with her. Mitsuru and Akihiko from my team and some guys from Inaba who have also gone through something like this." Thinking back to the group Sarah had invited to the tower Steve realized that out of all those people only the soccer player and that Luke guy weren't on Sarah's team. And that meant Sarah had people she could trust watching her back in that world. "Sarah, I'm sorry I doubted you." Steve whispered.

Sarah had called a 5 minute break to let the team catch their breath and to let Alice scan for Steve and the unknown person with him. Mitsuru did a check of the teams items while Sarah cast a Media over the group. "Sarah we really need to find a place to replace the items we've used here. I only have a limited number of supplies back in our world left." Mitsuru said sadly. Thinking it over Sarah nodded. "I think I can ask Tony to ordered whatever we need from the shops you guys used. After all with the money he's got it shouldn't be too much for him to buy the stuff and get it to us with in 24 hours." Mitsuru nodded in agreement. "Steve and his new friend appeared to be fine and only a few more levels up. Luckily for us they appeared to have made it to the top floor. Which means we can relax a little with the knowledge that we're almost done here." Alice informed the team, causing them to cheer. Sarah knew she'd still have to answer him when the time came; but for now she was happy to hear that it was almost over. "Once all of you haven your second wind we'll wrap this up." Sarah instructed. "Will you need help in dealing with the after math?" Peter asked. "No. I'll deal with that on my own. But thanks." _It was me that he followed, me who let him get away with it. Only fair that I'm the one who explains everything to him. Hang in there for just a little longer Steve. You'll be back in the tower soon._ Sarah suddenly couldn't help the smile that spread on her face. _I live in a tower with a bunch of people that more or less act like knights. God, I'm almost a princess!_ A small chuckle left her lips which the others just brushed off as Sarah being happy that they were going home soon with Steve and this mystery person.


	22. A dragon and acceptance

**Before we being this chapter I must tell you that this chapter has a section that will look very different from the rest of it. The reason for this is because I took up my friend SuperNova23's offer to let him write it for me. He worked really hard on it and we both hope you enjoy it.**

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Junpei and Steve had found a room empty of any Shadows and decide to take a small break. "There aren't any doors leading out of here besides the one we just came in through." Steve pointed out. "Yea, you're right. Guess we found the top of this place. Not that it does us much good." Junpei sighed. "How long do you think we've been in here?" Junpei got a thoughtful look on his face. "Not sure. It could only have been a few hours or maybe even a few days." Steve's eyes widen in shock. "Days? Everyone must be looking for me by now then." Junpei, seeing how freaked Steve was tried to defuse the tension. "Hey easy dude. We don't know for sure how long it's been. Besides if it's been even so much as a day the team should be in here by now looking for ya. Right?" Steve nodded. "Sarah would come looking for me here. I did tell everyone I was going to the docks to check something. Sarah would've guessed I came here." "She'll most likely think you stumbled in here by accident. So just tell her you did. After all how's she gonna know that you came here because of her?" Junpei suggested. "I don't think she'll believe me. My gut tells me she already know that I followed her to that door." Though Steve knew what he did was right he couldn't help but feel like a little kid waiting to get scolded by mom for breaking the rules. "You worry to much. Even if she does know you came he by choice she'll most likely be too relieved that you're still alive to care." Steve could only hope Junpei was right. He wasn't sure if he could handle an enraged Sarah in the state he was in.

The team had just caught site of the stairs leading to the next, and final floor and Sarah wasn't sure if she should be readying herself to hug Steve or to yell at him for doing something so stupid. However that gasp from behind both halted those thoughts and made her heart drop like a rock. "Alice what's wrong?" Peter asked. "There's a Shadow with them! It just appeared." Everyone could feel each other's fear. Was the Shadow the mystery person's? Or was it Steve's? "Double time!" Sarah shouted as they raced for the stairs.

"What the?" Steve was on his feet the second the figure had appear from the dark corner of the room. Junpei had placed himself between the figure and Steve though was looking back and forth between the two. "Dude, what's with the freaky clone?" The figure was a perfect likeness of Steve but with yellow eyes and the smirk it was wearing sent a chill down Steve's spine. The clone took a few steps forward and Steve found himself stepping back in fear. Fear of what he had no idea. But some how this thing, whatever it was had him scared. "The great Captain America. War hero. Super soldier. What a joke." The clone laughed. Junpei looked back at Steve a little nervously. He wasn't sure what was going on but he had a feeling it wasn't going to end well. "Hero, you? As if." Steve's eyes narrowed at the clone. "What do you mean by that?" The smirk on the clone's face grew at that. "Let's look at your record shall we? Let's start with you so called friend Bucky. Though in truth he was never really your friend." Steve's eyes widen. "You always hated that he was born with everything you lacked. He was always taller then you, stronger then you, and by far more appreciated by the ladies. But you? HA! Those dames would rather die then be seen with something like you. The only way you could get a date was Bucky showing you pity. That's why when you got the chance to you let him die on that train." "No! You're wrong! I did everything I could to save him." Steve snapped. "Did you really? He was right there. Only a few feet away from you hanging on for dear life. You could've reached him easily but you didn't. You let him fall because you wanted him to die." "Shut up! Just shut up! You're wrong." The clone ignored Steve as it continued. "What about our friend who gave us everything we have now? You remember him don't you? Dr Erskine." Steve swallowed hard at the memory of his death. "You saw the gun long before it fired, you knew it was pointed at him and yet you didn't stop the shooter. The reason?" The question was clearly one it wanted him to answer. "There were so many people in the way. I couldn't move them in time to reach him." The clone laughed and narrowed it's eyes at him. "No. You could reach him. You realized though that if Dr. Erskine lived that they would make more people like you. More super soldiers. And that would make you just another face in the crowd. Just another soldier. And you just couldn't let that happen. You had to be the guy everyone wanted to be. The person everyone woman wanted and every guy wished he was. So you stood there and watched the only man who could make it others like you die. Then of course you had to chase down the shooter to make sure the serum didn't get used by anyone else." "No. No that's not true! It's a lie." Steve was shaking right now. With anger or fear Junpei couldn't tell. "Sarah." The clone had whispered the name making Steve, who didn't realized he'd shut his eyes snapped them open to stare at it. " Like a little sister to you. You wanted to keep her safe. All those days you'd pick her up on your bike just to make sure she got home in one piece. But that all change when you realized she was spending so much time away from you. You got mad. After all she wouldn't tell you what she was doing. So you followed her. But when you heard he talking about saving someone and saw that strange door you got so mad at her. She was playing hero and seemed to be good at it. But you couldn't have that. After all she's your's. She can't be able to save herself. So you waited. Waited for the day her spirit would crushed. When she'd learn that she was just a stupid little girl. And that day with the death of the very person she had been trying to save. How you celebrated that day. Sarah had let someone die and it was killing her inside." The clone took several steps towards the two but Steve didn't notice. "N-no. I didn't want Sarah to get hurt. I wanted her to stop but not like that." "Oh but you did. And then you came here to prove it was too dangerous for her and her little group of friends to be doing this on their own. But look at you now. Waiting for Sarah to come save you. Some hero you're turning out to be." The clone got a thoughtful look on it's face before grinning. "Oh, I almost forgot. Peggy." Steve didn't even give it a chance to sane anything more. "Shut up! Just shut up. You don't know me. You know nothing about me!" The clone laughed the loudest at that. "I know nothing about you? Can't you see Steve? I am you." Junpei's hands tighten on he weapon as something about that line sent red flags up in his mind but he couldn't work out why. "No you're not. You're not me!" The laugh from the clone after those words was different from the other times it laughed. This one was cold and evil. "No I'm not. I'm me now." It said before what appeared to be darkness enveloped it. "What?" Steve asked, feeling more weak then before. "Shit, now we're in for it. Just stay behind me!" Junpei ordered.

As they made their way to the top floor, Sarah saw Steve standing behind a man with a goatee and baseball cap. In his hand he held a katana and on his belt was an Evoker in a holster. As Mitsuru saw the person, she called out, "Iori!? When did you get here?"

He turned and faced the group. "Heya Mitsuru-senpai, Ai-chan. We can save that for later. Right now, we've got a Shadow to take care of." He drew and fired his Evoker. "Check this out!"

As the others looked around for the Shadow, his Persona, which looked like a man in red armor with golden wings, came forth. "Torrent Shot!" It shot up into the sky and fired a hail on needles, driving the Shadow out from where it was out of view. .

"There it is!" Alice said, focusing. "Light and Darkness won't work, and it absorbs fire!" The Shadow was a large western dragon, a light yellow pattern on its underside and glittering red scales covering its hide. It was fast, dodging most on Junpei's attacks despite its large size and wingspan.

Sarah took charge. "Alright, Alice, try and find out where it'll be! Loki, protect Steve! You guys ready?" Once they nodded in affirmation, Sarah turned to the new man and asked, "Who are you?"

He grinned. "Junpei Iori. Shadow Operative and former member of S.E.E.S. Nice to meetcha!"

Sarah nodded. "So you're here to help us?"

Junpei nodded. "Sure thing. Now let's kick some Shadow ass!"

Aigis was first to move. "Masukukaja!" A green light surrounded all of them, speeding them up. Labrys was next to attack. "Ariadne, Double Fangs!" With the speed boost, her Persona was able to hit the Shadow, while not doing too much damage.

Sarah let her Persona card fall into her hand as she shattered it/ "High Pixie! Zionga!" Peter added his own Zionga to the mix and both lightning bolts struck the dragon. It roared in rage and unleashed a wave of fire on them all. Mitsuru was knocked down from her and the Shadow saw this, firing off a large fireball toward the redhead.

"Mitsuru-san!" Aigis called. "I need your help!" Athena disappeared and was replaced by Orpheus who resisted the attack.

Sarah wasn't blind to this either. "Yamata-no-Orochi! Red Wall!" A shied was raised over Mitsuru, protecting her from fire. She then switched back to High Pixie. "Media!"

Junpei jumped back into the fight. "Blade of Fury!" His Persona disappeared and left a series of cuts along the dragon.

While it was focoused on Junpei, Peter made his way over to Labrys. "Gimme a boost!" The android nodded and threw him high into the air. He used his web-shooters to grapple to its head. "Now! Vile Assault!" He summoned Cu Chulainn from where he sat in the dragon's blind spot, allowing his Persona to drive its spear into its neck, forcing it to the ground. Peter jumped off and looked to Sarah. "Let's rush 'em while we can!"

Sarah smiled, "Go for it!" Everyone charged forward and began to hack away with their weapons as a cloud of dust rose up. .

Once the dust settled, Aigis took the few seconds left to summon both Orpheus and Athena. "Sister! Now!"

Labrys moved closer to Aigis, summoning Ariadne. "Gotcha Sis!" The two sent their Personae forward calling out, "Inferno Dance!"

Athena tossed her spear into the ground, emitting a shockwave while Orpheus strummed his harp, wreathing Ariadne in fire. The ignited Persona then head-butted the Shadow, scoring more damage before it managed to get back up.

"It's getting weaker! Keep it up!" Alice called happily. Peter tried climbing back up, but the Shadow roared, the force knocking him down. Mitsuru tried to attack, firing her Evoker. "!"

Alice piped up again. "That attack silenced Mitsuru, Junpei, and Peter! Does anyone know Me Patra?" Sarah quickly checked the sea of her soul. sadly finding nothing to cure status ailments. Neither did Aigis or Labrys.

"Alright, new plan!" Sarah said, "Hit it with everything you got! Rakshasa!" The demon took the place of High Pixie and charged forward, slashing at the dragon. "Brain Shake!"

Aigis and Labrys both took a new stance, a faint glow appearing around them.

"Limiters removed!"

"Fly, Papillion Heart!"

Sarah looked at the two ASWs is confusion. "Alice? What's going on?" The telepath focused for a few seconds before replying, "They're in Orgia Mode. They remove their limiters, but need to cool down afterward."

Aigis produced a large minigun and unleashed a barrage of bullets upon the Shadow while Labrys fired out her fist and used her chain to grapple up like Peter did, but began hacking away with her axe.

Black ichor was leaking out of the Shadow as Sarah, Aigis, and Labrys kept attacking it. It used its claw to knock away Sarah's Persona, causing her to stagger as Rakshasa painfully hit the ground. It then tried to shake Labrys loose, but her hand was still firmly attached. It set its gaze next on Aigis, as well as the rest of the team on the ground. Aigis was reloading, so the Shadow unleashed a wave of fire against the Persona-users.

Both Sarah and Aigis were quick to react, switching to Black Frost and Pyro Jack respectively, absorbing the attack. Junpei wasn't hurt and Mitsuru's Red Wall still stood, keeping her from taking too much damage. Peter took the most, but not an overly large amount.

No one was silenced anymore, so Sarah called out, "Alright everyone! Let's finish this now!" She switched per Persona again. "Yamata-no-Orochi! Garula!"

"Cu Chulainn! Zionga!"

"Artemesia! Bufudyne!"

"Trismegistus! Vorpal Blade!"

"Athena! God's Hand!"

"Ariadne! Gigantic Fist!"

Together, they both hit the weakened Shadow, forcing it to revert back to the mirror image of Steve. "We did it!" Sarah said happily as Aigis and Labrys deactivated Orgia Mode to conserve power. Sarah and Peter ran over to Steve. "You have to accept your Shadow," Sarah told him. "It's the only way to get rid of it."

Steve wasn't sure about accepting it but when he looked into Sarah's eyes he just had this feeling that everything would be better if he did. So he walked over to it and rubbed at the back of his neck. "Alright. I did hate Bucky for being born the way he was. For being able to talk to anyone with out looking foolish. I wanted what he had. There's no deining it. But my friendship with him was real. He was and always will be my best friend. I tried my hardest to save him that day but failed and I've never forgiven myself for it because I was sure I could've done more. The same with Dr. Erskine. He gave me everything I have now and yet I couldn't save him. Yeah I have thought about what life might've been like if he had lived and I wasn't sure if I liked it. But at that moment I didn't save him not because I didn't want to. But because I was horrorifed that an enemy had gotten so close without anyone noticing it. I failed them both and it hurts me more then anyone could know. I broke my promise to Peggy. Nothing will ever change that." Steve took a moment to turn to Sarah, feeling that the next bit need to be said to her. "And I did in a way want you to get hurt. For you to see that this kind of thing was not something to be gone into at your age. But I only thought that because I had no idea what you were really doing in her. What you faced each time you stepped through that door. I was angry but wanted to trust you. So I stayed out of it till I saw the broken look on your face. I should've just gone to you Sarah right then and demanded answers but instead I came here. To learn the truth for myself and to prove a point. I'm sorry." Sarah smiled sadly at him and nodded, showing she understood his reason. Turning back to the clone Steve sighed. "I'm sorry to you as well. You are me. And I'll never forget that again." The clone smiled and faded, but instead of that being that a figure appeared above where it had been catching everyone off guard. It appeared to be a male angel in blue armour holding a sword. It's hair was as blond as Steve's and everyone felt a sense of strength about it before it disappeared and a card floated down to Steve's hands. "What is this?" He asked. Sarah stepped forward. "A Persona. Your Persona Steve. Welcome to the team." The card faded and Steve suddenly found himself dropping to one knee. The team raced over to him and helped him up. "Ok you've been in here way too long even with the serum." Peter said as he and Yosuke struggled under Steve's weight. "You going to come with us Junpei?" Sarah asked. "Yeah. After all you guys seem to know where the exit is around here and I could use a nap." So with Junpei following them the team made their way home.

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**Once again the battle sence was brought to you by SuperNova23. It is thanks to him that this chapter was made as well as turned out so good.**


	23. Explation for Steve and PARTY!

When Sarah and Steve got back to the tower they were met with some odd looks. But that was mostly due to the fact that Yosuke and Peter were still holding Steve up right. Steve couldn't help but laugh at how funny things seemed from his new point of view of knowing the truth about Sarah's group. Tony bit his lip and made himself busy with some new design to keep from commenting in anyway that might give way to the fact that he knew the truth behind Steve worn out appearance. "What happened to you?" Clint asked. Steve took a moment to glance at Sarah before shrugging. "I got lost and ended up in a bad part of the city." "Come on guys. His room is this way." Sarah then lead the guys to Steve's room where she ordered Steve to rest for several days. When he tried to argue saying he would be find by morning she pointed out that if that was true the other world wouldn't have effected him that much. He gave in with a small sigh and was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. Sarah saw the two guys off before turning to the rest of the Avengers. "So, what's for dinner?" Tony burst out laughing at that.

With Steve resting, Tony and Steve knowing the truth, and nothing else to worry about Sarah couldn't help the small sense of ease she felt as she attended school. She even took up a couple quest from James. Nothing too big. Just a request for a Stark phone, a build-a-bear bear, and a box of chocolates with truffles. The week past in a blur and soon Steve was back on his feet again ready for his new duties as a member of Sarah's team.

"Alright everyone. First let's welcome Steve, the only Avenger other the Tony to know about the other world and Shadows." Mitsuru said as the meeting was called to order. Everyone said their welcomes and hellos. Steve nodded to each of them. "And also Junpei who has finally come to aid us in our battles as well." Once more welcomes and hellos were said before everyone got to the matters at hand. "Sarah I hope you are going to explain why he is here and you never told any of us about him?" Steve was pointing to Loki who was sitting between Sarah and Peter. "Loki came to me interested in what we were doing. He was willing to trade information for information. Answering my questions to gain answers to his. After that Loki began coming by to see me from time to time to see how things had progressed. He then offered to help by looking into the Order I told you about on the way up here. Eventually he asked to be allowed to enter the other world to search for the Order who had appeared to have left for that world. We let him and since then he has proven to be trust worthy and very helpful." Loki laughed at that. "Two things I don't often get called." He chuckled when he noticed the looks he was getting. "Ok. I guess I can believe that." Steve then turned to Peter. "You're Spiderman?" Peter gave a nervous smile and looked down at his hands. "Look, can we keep this between us? I'd really like to finish this whole Shadow fighting thing with Sarah and everyone before you go telling the rest of the Avengers about me. Hell I'll go with you on that day if you want and tell them myself. But right now I've got high school, life as a hero, and my life as a Persona user. You can understand why I want my secret to stay a secret, right?" Steve nodded in understanding. He could see the stress on Peter's shoulders and he had no intention to adding to it. "I'm glad that is cleared up for you Steve. However there are more things to talk about. Like our other friend who we have not met." Steve raised a brow at Sarah. "You have a friend you've never seen?" Sarah chuckled nervously. "Well they're a hacker you see who calls them self Street_Persona. They seem like a friend since they have contacted me to warn me of some things. Like when Alice got thrown into the other world. But they don't say anything more about themselves." Trusting Loki to be on their side, keeping Peter's secret, helping to fight Shadows, and taking orders from Sarah were all things Steve was willing to do if it meant keeping everyone safe and alive. But putting trust in this Street_Persona? That was something that made him a little edgy. "Sarah can we really trust them? What if they are part of that Order you told me about and are just toying with you?" Steve had raised a good point. But one that Sarah had already gone over with the others. "I don't know if I can trust them Steve. Nor if they are with the Order. But what would you have me do? Street_Persona knows about Personas and the other world so if I ignore them and they turn out to be a friend people will get hurt and die." Steve had never seen such a serious look on Sarah's face before. He could tell she had weighted the options heavily before choosing the lesser of two evils. "Alright. I guess you should start from the top and tell me everything from the moment this all began up till now." Steve sighed. So the team began their tales. The members of S.E.E.S and the Investigation team adding in their battles against the Shadows before the events of New York started. Needless to say it was a long day of sitting, talking, and listening for Steve.

"Sarah, glad I caught you." Tony said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "Caught me is right." She joked. Tony chuckled before pulling out his phone. "I managed to pull some strings and you and your friends, both the ones doing the fighting and those not can have your party this Friday here." Tony showed Sarah a club several blocks from the tower. "Really? Tony that's great!" Sarah had almost forgotten she had asked for a party. To learn that they could have it on Friday was the best news she could've hoped for. "By the way. Don't tell Clint this but I also asked that idol Risette to come and perform for you guys." Sarah's jaw almost hit the floor. "Tony you just did us a huge favor!" He blinked in surprise. "I did?" Sarah laughed. "Risette, or rather Rise was a member of Yu's team back in Inaba. She's one of us. By booking her you gave her a reason to come to New York and help us. You aided the team with out knowing it." It was funny seeing Tony confused. "Oh, well that's great then. By the way why did you take the Capsicle to your group's secret club meetings and not me?" Tony was fake pouting. "Steve gained a Persona and there for joined our team. I'll talk to the other about bring you next time but I have a feel Pepper won't let you go." Sigh Tony nodded in understanding. "By the way. Everyone's been asking a lot of questions lately about your group. I need a better lie to feed them since you are almost always with them." Hanging her head Sarah tried to come up with something but got nothing. "I've got nothing now but I'll ask the team." Nodding Tony whispered quickly "Better be something that can explain why you're so tired and dirty when you come home." before he left for his lab. "Right." Sarah then took out her phone and text everyone of her friends, even Lee that there would be a party on Friday. Sarah knew she would run into Loki before long and promised she'd tell him about it too. The guy/god was a part of the team after all.

Dressed in her fave tank top and jeans Sarah met the team and Lee outside the club. Steve had refused to go saying that he didn't like parties and that this party was for Sarah and her friends to let loose some of the tension that had been building in them. "SARAH!" Lee almost tackled said person to the floor. "Easy Lee. I'd like to enjoy the party a little." Sarah teased. Lee giggled and got off her. "Come on guys. I got a surprise for you." Sarah then lead them inside, glad that the club had been booked purely for their group since it mean no one would interrupt their fun. "YU!" Said person was tackled to the ground. "What the? Rise?" Yu, along with Teddie, Yosuke, Naoto, and Kanji couldn't believe their eyes. "Surprise! Tony invited Rise here." Sarah cheered. "Really? Sweet. Long time no see Rise." Yosuke greeted her and he and Naoto helped both her and Yu off the floor. "Yeah sorry about the absence guys. Works been piling on for a long time. But after tonight I'm taking a break to hang out with my fave people." Rise explained while twirling a strand of hair around her fingers. "Sarah, Tony realizes some of us are underage right?" Peter asked as he looked over the bottles set up along with the food. "He gave us booze!" Sarah hadn't expected that and quickly send a text asking about that. Tony's reply was that tonight the rules could be broken but tomorrow there'd be no more until they came of age. Not sure if this was a good idea or not Sarah shrugged it off. Yosuke and Kanji however groaned. "Let's all promise no matter what we are not playing the King game." Loki/Luke raised a brow at that. "The king game?" He was clearly interested. "You draw sticks so everyone gets a number but one person gets a marked stick that makes them king for that round. The one who's king then picks a number and saids what that number has to do. Then once that's done the sticks are gathered back up and then everyone redraws until the players get tired of the game and quit." Everyone from Inaba stared at Sarah in shock. "I use to play it with some friends before moving here." She explained. "Enough talk. It's party time!" Rise cheered.

With Mitsuru and Akihiko watching over how quickly everyone was drinking the group managed to hold out really well and keep the party from degrading too fast. That is till after Rise had finished singing for the night and Lee had dragged Sarah onto the stage. Lee was starting to show signs of getting drunk and Sarah was worried she would end up falling off the stage. "Sing!" Lee cheered. Sarah could feel the heat spreading across her cheeks as all eyes went to her. "W-what?" She had to be sure what Lee was asking of her. "Your turn to sing now Sarah! Come on, pretty please." Lee was batting her eyes at Sarah with a little pout on her lips. "Hey how bout we play the king game instead?" Sarah had to get out of this. There was no way she was going to sing in front of everyone. "Nah uh. Sing!" It was now sounding like an order and Sarah couldn't help but gulp. "Oh I can't. We don't have a band to play. Rise's group left already." This was a weak lie that Lee would've seen through had she not be slightly drunk. "Hey that's ok! We can perform!" Sarah wanted to kill Rise as she dragged Yu and the others on stage. "YAY! Sarah's gonna sing! Sarah's going to sing!" Lee sang. Other then Loki and Lee everyone was giving Sarah looks of pity. "Fine. One song." Still blushing Sarah turned to the group. "Um, do you guys know new way to bleed?" It was the only song Sarah could think of. "Yeah." Was the response she got from them as they each went to the instruments they were going to play. Lee jumped off the stage and ran to Loki's side to watch the show as Sarah took her place behind the mic. _I can't believe I'm doing this. I'm going to ruin the mood._ With no way out Sarah signaled the team to start playing and she began singing.

When the song ended everyone (other then Lee who was clapping like crazy) was silent. _Here it comes. The whole you're not that bad lines._ "Wow! I should talk to my agent about signing you on." Sarah swore her head nearly flew off as she whipped it around to stare in shock at Rise. "And there you were making us think you can't sing. She really is just like you Partner. She can do anything." Yosuke laughed. "W-what?" The team laughed at her confusion. "Sarah, you can sing." Peter answered bluntly. Blinking in surprise at these comments Sarah looked to everyone before shaking her head and heading for the bar. "They're all crazy. I know what I can and can't do and singing isn't on the can list." Sarah mumbled to herself before downing a glass. What was in it she had no idea but it burned. Thankfully Loki put a bottle of water in her hand to help ease the burn. "Thanks." She whispered after downing half the bottle. "You were good up there." She stared at Loki for a moment before sighing. "Some how I can't not believe you. I really can sing?" Loki smiled and nodded. _I should call him a liar but somehow I know he's telling the truth. How is it I can read the god of lies so easily?_ Sarah wasn't given any time to ponder the question as Yu suddenly called out. "And now the king game!" There were a few groans but in the end everyone was seated and drawing sticks. Akihiko drew the marked one. "Pick a number and order your subject!" Rise was excited and the way she was making eyes at Yu suggested she was going to use this game to live a small fantasy with him. "Um ok? Number...three has to...hug Sarah!" Sarah was almost crushed when Teddie leapt on her. "YAY! I get to hug you." When the shock wore off Sarah laughed and hugged Teddie back. She missed the small look of annoyance that pasted over Loki's face and the hint of disappointment in Peter's eyes. "Next round!"

The game went on for hours. Slowly getting more racy with every two to three round. By 11:30 almost everyone was hoping the others wouldn't remember what happened during the game. "You sure you can handle her?" Alice asked as Sarah was trying to help Lee home. "I'll be ok Alice. I'll call for a cab and have it drop us both off. Go on, head for home." Sarah was tipsy. There was no denying it. But she could still walk a fairly straight line and talk with out slurring her words too much. "Alright. Goodnight." Then Alice, along with everyone else was gone. Holding Lee up against a wall with one arm Sarah quickly called a cab before sitting Lee and herself down on the ground to wait.

"Hey Sarah?" Lee's eyes were half lidded and she was smiling. "Yes Lee?" Sarah was feeling drowsy and couldn't wait to climb into bed. That was when Lee grabbed Sarah by the shirt and slammed their lips together in a very heated kiss. Being in the state she was in Sarah didn't push away. Instead she pulled Lee closer and deepened the kiss. Hands began roaming each other's body as both girls became lost in each other. However the honk of the cab's horn ripped the two back to reality before they could do anything more. "Come on Lee. Time to go home." Sarah stood and carried her friend to the cab before getting in and reading off Lee's address from her phone. Lee's head fell into Sarah's lap as the cab pulled away from the curb. She was out like a light.


	24. After the party

With a groan and a painful glare at Tony Sarah sat down at the island and placed her head on the cool tile top. "Hangover?" Tony asked before a glass of water and some Advil were set before her. "I hate you." Was all she said before downing both water and pills. She was given a moment of silence before something slapped the space on the island before her. Looking up there was an angry Steve staring down at her. "Tony let us have it! I had no idea he'd done it." Steve looked confused for a moment before shaking his head. "Whatever you're talking about can be dealt with later. You have bigger things to worry about." Steve then turned his eyes to Tony. "I thought you and Pepper fixed it so Sarah wouldn't end up in the papers." Frowning in confusion Sarah looked at what was now before her. It was a newspaper. With a picture Sarah didn't know had been taken. "WHAT!" She yelled as she grabbed the paper and took a closer look. There was Sarah and Lee on the sidewalk outside the club they'd partied in lip locked and feeling each other up. Tony pulled the paper from her hands before going red in anger. "Someone's going to hell for this." Pepper growled as she saw the picture and whipped out her phone, leaving the room quickly. "What's wrong?" Bruce asked. "The picture is of Sarah and her friend Lee making out. The press is running the story like the two are a couple." Steve then looked to Sarah. "Are you?" Sarah blinked for a moment, having forgotten the world around her in her shock. "No! Lee and I are friends. We don't have any feelings for each other. Oh god I should call her and warn her about this." Sarah then left to grab her charging phone from her room. Steve looked at Tony. "What'd she mean by you let them have it. Let them have what?" Tony's face went from angry red to slightly pale at the look Steve was fixing him with. "Later. Right now I have to help Pepper save Sarah's rep." He then bolted out of the kitchen, phone in hand.

Lee wasn't picking up so Sarah text her instead figuring Lee was more hung over then Sarah had been. Turning on the TV and checking the internet Sarah felt her life was over as everyone was running with the story of how Stark's godchild was secretly seeing a fellow female student. In the past Sarah had wondered how no one ever found out who she was or that the press didn't bug her with questions. It was clear now that Tony and Pepper had to have been protecting her from them. But this one little moment while drunk had shattered that protection and made her fair game in the media's eyes. Sarah crawled back into bed and hid under blankets and pillows. Wishing for the world to disappear.

Sitting before the team Sarah nearly wanted to scream and run from the room as they all just stared at her. Clearly they had seen the paper. Loki finally broke the silence. "You two look lovely together." When she glared at him he just started laughing causing Steve to join her in glaring at him. "Has anyone spoken to Lee since last night?" Sarah asked as she looked at each of them. They shook their heads causing Sarah to sigh. "Alright. I'll figure out how to get in touch with Lee later then. Right now we need to talk about something else. And that would be a good cover story for our group. After all a group ranging from teens to adults running around with weapons isn't going to go unnoticed forever and Tony is having trouble throwing suspicion off us. If we don't work out a better excuse then I fear the next people to learn about this will be either Clint or Natasha and they won't be so understanding even if they end up in the other world facing their Shadows." Sarah explained. Mitsuru sighed. "That is true. But what cover story would allow us to be able to move about with the weapons we use?" She asked out loud. Everyone thought hard on the question but it didn't seem like there was an answer. Until Alice spoke up. "Cosplay." All eyes were on her. "Cosplay?" Steve asked. "It short for costume play. People dress up like characters from a show, movie, book and act out the characters lives." Alice explained. "You know what? Cosplaying does sound like a good excuse. People will think our weapons are fake if we dress up in costumes and that means they won't bug us." Yu agreed. "Other then to stop to ask to take a picture that is." Yosuke pointed out. "And it's something that everyone at the tower could believe I'm into. And if need be Steve could say he's trying it out at my request." Sarah agreed. "Um alright? I guess I could give it a try. But everyone at the tower would have to see us dressed up before we leave. So we'd be stuck in costume till we got back." Steve pointed out. "That's fine. We'll all dress up and meet at the door. No problem." Junpei sounded a little to ok with the idea. Sarah made a mental note to ask Mitsuru and Akihiko about that later. "Wait. What about all the rips the costumes will get while in the other world? How do we explain that?" Steve had a point. "We could say we are making a movie. We'd just have to take some time when we can to shoot a movie with all of us in costume. And then Sarah can show it at the tower." Sarah was surprised to hear Loki suggesting that. "Ok. But where do we get the costumes?" Steve asked. "I can make them. I already know everyone's sizes so it will only take me a few days to make the costumes." Alice offered. "Ok then. Let's make it something simple. Black Butler?" Everyone but Peter, Loki, and Steve nodded in agreement. "What's Black Butler?" The three asked. "Ok I'll have to show you guys it when we get back to the tower. Just remember we're using it to help with our cover."

Steve wasn't too impressed with Black Butler. He didn't like the fact that Ceil had sold his soul to a demon for revenge. Peter seemed to like it as he borrowed Sarah's box sets and the first ten manga. Loki loved the idea of the anime and had wondered out loud if it was possible to enter into such a deal. Tony had stuck his head into Sarah's room during the anime and asked what was going on. When Sarah had told him it was research for their cover story he had raised a brow before turning and leaving. Knowing he didn't understand Sarah had gone to the lab the moment Peter and Loki had left.

"Your cover story is a cartoon?" He asked the moment Bruce had left to make himself a tea. "Anime." Sarah corrected before shaking her head. "And no. Our cover story is cosplaying and as soon as Alice finishes them we shall be dressing in Black Butler costumes and claiming to be making a movie." Tony went "Ah!" at that before asking. "You sure that will work?" Sarah smiled at him. "It will when I show a movie of us cosplaying." At his confused look Sarah went on. "When we don't have to fight Shadows or deal with the Order we shall be taking whatever time we can to film a movie. Then I will show it to strengthen the belief that we really are doing what we claim to be doing." Tony couldn't argue with that. Having something that proved Sarah and her friends were cosplaying would make everyone, even the two spies back off. "Let me know if you need anything then." Tony was about to get to work on something when Sarah spoke up. "Well since you brought it up." Turning back to her Tony saw Sarah pull out some papers. "What's that?" He asked as she handed them to him. "It's a list of places over in Japan that sell stuff the team can use in the other world to aid us. Meds, status cures, and even some things we can turn on the Shadows. As you can see each store name comes with a small list of things. Could you order those and get them to us quickly?" Sarah asked. Tony read them over then nodded. "Sure. Sure I can do that. Though you sure about this? Dokudami Tea? What can that do?" Tony had made a slightly funny face when saying the name of the tea. "Naoto told me it can cure poisoning." Tony didn't look like he believed her but he sigh and said, "Why not?" Before tucking the papers into his pocket. "Alright. I'll have the stuff here in a couples days so long as the world doesn't need saving in the mean time." With that said Sarah left the lab, giving Bruce a smile as she pasted him.

At school Sarah could hear the whispers and whistles that followed her to her locker but ignored them as much as possible. She had not seen Lee yet but that wasn't new. Lee's locker was on the other side of the school so she knew she might not catch site of her till practice later that day. "Sarah, just who I wanted to see." It was Alice who spoke up as Sarah was grabbing her books. "What's up?" Trying to act like everything was normal while reminding herself that if she pushed too hard it could be her Shadow next Sarah smiled at her friend. "Well I was wondering what you wanted your costume to be. There are only a few women in that amine and I want to make sure you are happy with your character." Chewing it over Sarah smirked. "I want to be Sebastian. Never really cared much for the female characters and I don't see myself as Ceil." She shrugged. "Alright then. One Sebastian costume for Sarah." Alice quickly scribbled down a note. "What's that about costumes?" Lee asked as she walked up to the two girls. "Lee! I've been trying to get in touch with you since yesterday." Sarah was glad Lee wasn't hiding due to the story about them. "Sorry about that Sarah. My mom got hurt yesterday and I had to stay with her at the hospital till dad got there. I take it this is about the paper?" Sarah sighed. She'd hoped that Lee hadn't seen the paper given what happened to her mother yesterday. "Yeah. Listen Lee I'm sorry about that. I didn't mean to land you on the morning news nor did I mean to take advantage of your drunken state. Can you forgive me?" Lee appeared confused for a moment before smiling. "Sarah that's what I like about you. You are way too caring." Now Sarah was confused. "There's nothing to forgive Sarah. After all it's because of Tony that the press even took notice of what was happening then. I'm not going to let something you can't control ruin things for us." Sarah couldn't believe Lee was forgiving her so quickly. No, not forgiving her. Lee didn't hate Sarah at all for what happened. "Thanks Lee." Lee nodded before looking between Sarah and Alice. "So what's this about you and costumes?" She asked again. "Oh well some of us are teaming up to make a cosplay vid and since it's going to be a Black Butler cosplay I needed to know what costume Sarah want before I make hers." Alice explained. Lee's eyes appear to dance as a thought entered her head. "Oh what a great idea! Can I see the vid when it's done?" Sarah agreed to show Lee the vid just as the warning bell rang.

Tony had just gotten off the phone with the last of the shops Sarah had asked him to order from. The orders, as he had been told would arrive in three to six work days. That was the best he could get since they did have clear the boarders before reaching the tower. Turning back to his work table Tony looked over the chest armour he had been working on. After letting Sarah and her group use the scrap pieces to protect themselves in the other world Tony had been thinking of making a few light weight pieces the group could use. So far however he was scrapping each idea midway through making it. The pieces all were fitted for Sarah's torso but he kept worrying that it wasn't strong enough. Wasn't light enough. Sarah wouldn't be able to move freely in it. Dropping down into his chair Tony let out a heavy sigh and downed his drink. "If it was anyone other then Sarah I'd be finished by now." He sighed. It was clear how much Tony cared about Sarah now a days. Had he tried this before Sarah fought his Shadow Tony was sure he would've just scrapped the whole idea and let her fend for herself with whatever armour that weapon shop had to offer her. After she fought his Shadow Tony figured he might've been temped to complete them but he wouldn't be worrying so much about the littlest details. But now, after learning the whole truth and seeing how well Sarah leads her group Tony couldn't help but nit pick at every detail of his work on the pieces. He had even given Sarah an increase in her allowance to help her pay for all the weapons and such the team needed for the Other world. Scrapping the piece before him Tony brought up a 3d hologram of the last design before he began removing the bits he felt weren't needed.

The city streets were lined with cars but there was not a single person to be seen. The night sky was clear and the air just cool enough for a person to wear just a light sweater and the streets and buildings well lit. But still. No one was about. No one but Sarah. She walked the streets feeling nervous, every now and then calling out in case there was someone else. But her hopes of finding anyone were almost gone. She had even called out to Loki but he did not appear. A thud from behind made her tense. Her breath held she turned, hoping to see Peter in his Spidy suit laughing at how easily startled their leader was. But what she saw wasn't her friend. It was a shapeless Shadow. It's mask face turned towards her as it began to approach. "Persona!" Sarah yelled. Nothing. No rush of power that she had grown familiar with. No familiar creature appearing by her side. It was as if she didn't have them any more. "Persona! Persona! Persona!" She called and called but still nothing came to her aid. "No" The word was whispered before Sarah spun around and ran. She couldn't understand it._ Why can't I summon my Personas?_ Taking a sharp turn Sarah froze at what she saw. Half of Stark tower, her home was gone. As if something had ripped it apart or there had been bombs that went off. Sarah found herself reaching for her phone. A phone that, to her horror was not there. Looking for a payphone Sarah spotted several, all with the lines cut. Looking back to the tower Sarah thought about running to it but a swarm of Shadows appeared, blocking her path. With little choice Sarah turned and ran the other way. Stopping only when she saw something glint across the street. Walking over Sarah picked up the gun she had found. "Wait a second. This is an Evoker. What's it doing here?" Turning it over Sarah spotted a name carved into it. "Arisato? S.E.E.S' late leader's? I wonder" Sarah trailed off as she pressed the Evoker to her temple. _I hope this is what I think it is._ Sarah then pulled the trigger. Click. Nothing happened. A small cry left her lips and she tried again. Click. Bringing it back to eye level Sarah could feel tears burning at her eyes as she looked at the useless gun. The name seemed to almost be glowing at her in the light of the near by street lamp. In a sudden wave of anger she tossed the Evoker threw a near by window and started running again.

Her legs and lungs burned but Sarah didn't stop. Every time she thought she was safe and could stop Shadows would appear and she would have to take a harsh turn to keep from running into them. "How could this have happened?" Tears were running down her face as fear gripped her heart tightly. Suddenly Sarah found herself face down on the street. Her left cheek cut up by small shards of glass. Her mind forced her to catch her breath before she stood and turned to see why she had fallen. "NO!" There was Loki. A lifeless corpse on the ground. His empty eyes staring up at her. Sarah backed away from him and turned to run when she saw more bodies. Akihiko, Pepper, Teddie, and Lee where hung up in a store window like puppets. Their eyes, like Loki's were on her. Shaking Sarah turned again. And found a sea of bodies, Shadows moving about above them. Her feet began moving, but not away from the site before her. She was walking along a small path among the bodies, her fear slowly draining and the Shadows ignoring her. After what felt like three city blocks Sarah stopped and turned to her right. There was mirror just standing there, untouched and looking like it had just be made. Lifting her gaze to the mirror Sarah found herself smirking at what she saw. It was herself, but with the Shadow's yellow eyes.

Sarah's eyes snapped open and she struggled against whatever was holding her. "Sarah wake up!" She stilled and gazed up at the frightened face of Tony. Her mouth, which she didn't realize had been both opened and screaming closed slowly as she looked around her. Each Avenger as well as Pepper where standing/sitting by her bed looking both relieved and worried. Swallowing Sarah found her throat was raw. Bruce passed her a glass of water and she drained it with in a few seconds. Tony released his hold on her and ran his hand up and down her back in slow soothing motions. "It's ok Sarah. It was just a nightmare." Pepper assured her. Sarah nodded quickly in understanding but a voice in her whispered that it couldn't have been a dream. Drawing her knees to her chest Sarah pushed away the voice and focused on what she knew to be true. Everyone she cared about was alive. She wasn't a Shadow. And she still had her Personas. There was nothing she needed to worry about.

After claming down some the guys left the room and both Pepper and Natasha stuck around to have a semi girls night to take her mind off what she had dreamed. And it did work to a point. With her nails painted midnight blue, a stack of watched DVDs by her TV, and the remains of the comfort food they had eaten Sarah had drifted off back to sleep with Pepper and Natasha sleeping next to her.


End file.
